


A Series of JayTim Drabbles

by Pisces314



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - High School, Asexual Tim, Fluff, Hunter!Jason x Werewolf!Tim, M/M, Misunderstandings, Please read each chapter's notes for any warnings related to that particular request!, Rating subject to change depending on the prompt, Stray! Tim, mermaid!Tim, off screen abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2018-11-17 10:33:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 34,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11273682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pisces314/pseuds/Pisces314
Summary: This is going to be a sort of collage of any short JayTim requests I get from my tumblr or prompt fills I write. I've titled each chapter based on what the prompt will be about and while most of these chapters will be lighthearted w/ a T rating at the highest, please check the notes at the beginning of each chapter for any warnings!





	1. Mermaid!Tim

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! So this prompt was requested by LittleRed on tumblr who wanted "JayTim + Sunsets" and since I was watching SinBad when I got the request, it turned into a Mermaid AU.

 

**_Inhale._ **

Jason remembers sitting on the crow’s nest of the ship looking out over the ocean surrounding them. Prince Damian, the child he had been hired by King Ra’s to protect, paced the deck below him. The young prince was always a pest, but had been even more uptight today. But Jason couldn’t blame him.

They were almost to Metropolis, the city where he would have his first meeting with his betrothed. Jason knew he was less than happy to be “traded off for gold and the promise of peace, like cattle”, in Damian’s own words.

He sighs, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath of the salty ocean air, thankful his life wasn’t overruled by politics. With the money Ra’s was offering for Damian’s safe passage, he’d have enough to take an early retirement where he’d spend the rest of his days in peaceful solitude.

**_Exhale._ **

The next thing he remembers is an ear-splitting roar and a loud crack. And then tentacles, tentacles everywhere.

“I think this is karma for that one drunken fantasy I had about these things!” Roy, the ship’s captain shouts. He shoots an arrow up at one of the flailing limbs, earning an angered shriek from the Kraken.

“Harper, you are a disgrace!” Damian cries, rightfully disgusted as he uses his katana to slash at one trying to wrap itself around his ankle.

Jason finally snaps out of his shock and whips his guns out, firing at everything in sight. He spots Kori playing some sort of tug of war with another limb as it tries to pull a crew member off the deck.

“Aren’t you a Siren?” Jason shouts at her. “Can’t you like sing It a lullaby or something?” She loses the battle and poor sod goes off screaming into the air. Jason’s thankful he never spent much time trying to get to know all the crew members.

“Our songs only work on weak minded men!” She leaps with inhuman grace out of danger when the monster sends another limb crashing down through the center of the ship.

After that there isn’t any time for talking.

**_Inhale._ **

Jason gets a terrifying glimpse of two large beady eyes and a mouth with rows of teeth as he plummets through the air.

And then he’s underwater.

He sinks faster than the ship did, blood roaring in his ears as he gets further and further away from the surface.

His lungs burn and his vision starts to fade. He tries to calmly accept that he’s about to die before he’s even made it to his twentieth year.

Then he feels something strong wrap around his waist. Whether it’s the Kraken coming to claim his corpse, or a hopeful hallucination, Jason can do nothing about it because the next moment he loses consciousness.

**_Exhale._ **

Jason is faintly aware that he’s breathing and that he’s no longer in the ocean. But he can hear waves very close by.

“This one is alive too!” The voice sounds too loud, almost right in his ear. There’s a funny accent to the voice but it’s melodic in a way, causing a strange sense of peace to fill Jason. Something cool and soft brushes Jason’s forehead and jaw.

“Oh gross! Don’t touch it! I’ve heard they carry viruses and stuff.” Another voice calls, this one a little further away.

“Oh hush, Dick. He’s a human, not a rodent.” The voice closest to him sighs, but the hand pulls away.

Jason forces his eyes to open and almost immediately has to close them again. Even the sunset is too bright to Jason’s tired, dried out eyes. He opens them more slowly this time, trying to get used to the light.

He can see someone leaning over him. The sun behind them shades out most of their features so it takes a while for Jason to be able to make out anything about his rescuer.

He’s a boy, maybe Jason’s age or a little younger, with deep black hair and blue eyes. He’s shirtless and his skin is pale, which is odd for someone that must live so close to the sea. Something about his looks seem strange, unusual in a way Jason can’t quite pinpoint. Maybe it’s the high cheekbones or his almost unnaturally wide eyes, or his pointed ears. Either way he’s unique to anyone Jason’s ever seen before. He finds himself not quite wanting to look away.

“Hello Human.” The boy states, oddly pale lips quirked in a smile. “I’m sorry about the kraken. He was just trying to protect our home. I think your crew made it out safely…for the most part.” Okay, now Jason has some serious questions, but most importantly-

“Damian?” Jason rasps. The boy tilts his head at him.

“What’s a Damian? Is that some sort of human medicine?”

“I’m Damian, you vile creature! Unhand my guard or I’ll slice your throat!” Jason nearly passes out again in pure relief when Damian’s voice sounds to his right.

“You’re vile.” The boy hisses at Damian. It’s an unnerving sound, making the hairs on Jason’s arms stand up.

“Tim, please. We did not save them just to argue like hatchlings.” The other rescuer, Dick exclaims tiredly.

Jason decides he’s had enough lying down. He sits up and takes a look around him, trying to get his bearings. He startles when he realizes that they’re on an island. Because he knows there wasn’t one marked on their maps around where they crashed. Where ever they washed up hasn’t been discovered by any man before.

He can see Kori and Roy both laying on their backs, still unconscious. Damian sits a few feet away, nursing what looks to be a broken arm. The person that must be Dick sits half submerged in the water, as if that’s a completely normal thing to do.

“What’s your name, human?” Jason jerks when Tim’s voice sounds right in his ear again. Jason shoves Tim away from him. Rescuer or not, personal space is personal space.

“Hey!” Tim cries as he falls backwards. And then Jason notices _it_. He hadn’t noticed _it_ before because Tim had it hidden away in the water. He remembers Damian calling him a creature and it makes much more sense now.

Because Tim has a tail. A thick, long tail coming out of his waist where his legs should be. It’s scarlet scales flash in the sunlight as it flaps agitatedly in it water. Jason can see two yellow fins down at the end where his feet should be.

Jason stares in shock at the boy-merman- _legend_ glaring up at him with a tail the same hues as the sun setting on the ocean behind them.


	2. First Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JayTim first date with a clueless Jason. Request from Tumblr :)  
> Pardon typos I wrote this in less than an hour

Jason strides into the restaurant, eyes already skimming the crowd for Tim. He’s hot, back slightly sweaty from the tux Tim insisted he wear.

He didn’t know what the plan was here, but when he woke up earlier this afternoon (he had stopped a major drugged trade last night okay? He deserved the rest.), the suit was hanging on up outside his door along with a note that said: Meet me at Bella’s Charm at eight.

He had assumed that they were going undercover, because why else would the replacement be sending him to the most notorious couples restaurant in Gotham? At least one couple got engaged there every Saturday. Women would reserve tables there all the time, hoping their clueless partners would pick up on the hints they were dropping.

He uses his height to his advantage, spotting Tim sitting at a table a bit secluded from the rest. Jason waves the hostess away as he makes his way over to Tim.

“Hey.” He greets Tim once he’s in earshot. Tim shoots up out of his seat like lightning, hands brushing invisible dirt off his shirt and pants as he rises.

“You came.” Tim looks surprised, which Jason thinks is strange since he straight up told Jason to meet him here.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Jason frowns at him. Instead of answering Tim smiles almost bashfully up at Jason. Jason smiles back at him, Tim had always been awkward, lately Jason found himself thinking it was adorable instead of just plain weird.

“You look nice.” Jason says as he takes a seat. He’s mostly just making conversation, but he means it. Tim had a seriously messed up fashion sense sometimes, but he definitely knew how to dress up when he needed to.

“Thanks, so do you.” Tim just keeps grinning at him. It’s starting to make Jason a little nervous, was Tim drugged somehow before he came over?

“So why did we meet at this….lovely place?” He drawls, heavy on the sarcasm. Tim’s smile finally drops off his face.

“You don’t like it here?” He asks, his voice quiet. He must not want to upset the workers here or something.

“Uh, no? C’mon Timmy, you know me. This is the complete opposite of what I like.”

“Oh.” The silence that falls between them is thick. Jason fiddles with his napkin, avoiding the look Tim is sending his way. This must be one of his favorite places to eat.

“So who’re we looking for here?”

“What?”

“Our target, dummy. Isn’t that why you made me dress up all fancy and come all the way out here?” Jason looks back up to find Tim staring at him like he’s grown a second head.

The look of confusion morphs into one of horror and Jason watches Tim’s face go from stark white to cherry red in a matter of seconds.

And when it all hits Jason what just happened, he’s sure his face does the exact same thing.

“Oh fuck.” He breathes, watching Tim’s face now turn into one of anger. “Tim, I’m so-“ He’s interrupted when Tim grabs his tie and yanks him forward. Jason manages to tilt his head just in time to avoid smashing their noses together as Tim pulls him into a slightly painful but still wonderful kiss.

“You’re an idiot.” Tim growls against his lips.

“That’s me.” Jason squeaks in response. “You should probably kiss me again because of said idiocy, just so I can be sure that this is actually happening right now.”

 


	3. Stray!Tim/Robin!Jay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anon asked: I found your tumblr by reading Limerence.....Could you do something in the future where Jason stumbles on Tim's stash of photos of him as Robin, or Tim shyly sharing the results of his photography with Jason?
> 
> *So this'll be a future Stray!Tim fic. You can read it as a sequel to Limerence if you want but it doesn't have to be.
> 
> -Also sorry I haven't been updating this list with things I've written on Tumblr -.- I'll try to stay more on top of moving everything over here relatively soon after posting it on my blog from now on.

“Is that the last box?” Tim pants, slumping against their living room wall. “Please, tell me it’s the last box.” 

Jason smiles, shaking his head at his dramatic boyfriend. 

“Yes it is, princess. But damn if it isn’t a heavy one.” Jason grunts, adjusting the way he’s holding it. “Where does it go anyway?”

“We labeled the boxes for a reason, Jason.” Tim doesn’t have to say it, but Jason can hear the ‘Duh, you idiot’, behind Tim’s words.  He glares toward the sounds of glass clinking together as Tim unpacks their dinnerware, a gift from Babs. 

“Well you obviously didn’t label this one correctly. It just says R on it, what does that even mean?” He grows concerned when he hears the sound of something clattering to the ground in their kitchen. He’s about to drop the box and head in there when Tim comes hurrying out to meet him.

“Oh, yeah sorry I’ll just take that.” Tim tries to grab it out of his hands but Jason holds on tight. They end up in a sort of tug of war with the box, neither one of them letting go.

“I can take it.” Jason insists. “I just need you to tell me where it goes.”

“I got it.” Tim says voice sharp. The intensity surprises Jason, causing him to losing his grip on the box. Tim grabs the box, grimacing slightly when he takes on its full weight. Jason stares after him as he waddles down the hall toward the bedroom.

“What’s in that thing anyway?” He calls. Tim doesn’t answer him until he’s back in the living room with Jason, a few moments later. 

“It’s nothing, just some old pictures before my Stray days.” Tim shrugs. “Hey, do you wanna go out to eat tonight? I don’t really feel like cooking after moving all day.”

“...Sure.” Jason mumbles, getting out his phone to make a reservation while Tim starts the shower. He tries to ignore the suspicious feeling swirling in his gut. Maybe Bruce’s paranoia was finally rubbing off on him.

Less than three hours later, they stumble back into their apartment, tired and completely bloated from the amount of food they ate. 

Tim sighs, looking around the apartment with a fond smile on his face.

“What is it?” Jason asks, looking around. All he sees is a bunch of misplaced furniture and stacks of unpacked boxes. 

“It’s just-” Tim sighs. “This is our place. Just ours.”

“Uh yeah,” Jason frowns at him, puzzled.  “I thought you knew that when we signed the lease together. Our signatures were right next to each others.” Tim rolls his eyes.

“Yeah but, tell me honestly, did you ever expect to make it this far with the way we risk our lives every night?” 

“Tim…”

“I’m serious, Jay. The Joker almost killed you last year. If I had gotten there even a minute later-” Tim shudders. “And the only reason I wasn’t locked up before I started working with you was because Bruce decided for whatever reason I was worth more than that.”

“You are worth more than that. You were just a stupid kid back then.”

“So stupid.” Tim agrees with a laugh. He looks at Jason then, a determined glint in his eye. “I want to show you something.”

“O-okay.” Jason allows Tim to pull him toward their bedroom, surprised at the sudden change.

Tim pushes him toward the bed, forcing Jason to sit when his knees hit the edge of the mattress, and starts digging through their closet.

“Tim, what-” Jason breaks off when Tim emerges with the box from earlier. He drops it at Jason’s feet and sits down on the bed beside him. 

“Open it.” He says, waving Jason toward the box. He has a grim expression on his face. It makes Jason nervous, stomach in knots, as he reaches for the box.

He opens it, holding his breath as he peaks in to discover….photo albums. There’s two of them, a blue and a red one, both thick and worn as if they are years old. 

He grabs the blue since it’s on top and opens it to the first page. It’s a grimey photo that appears to be taken from front row seats at a circus, with a young brunette boy standing on a tightrope high above the crowd. The photo next to it shows the boy mid-flip over the tightrope. Even in a frozen frame, Jason can tell it’s a complicated maneuver, one that required intense training beforehand. 

He flips to the next page. The first photo is even more blurry, but Jason can make out the familiar costume of Robin, caught in the same flip as the boy from the circus. Tim speaks up before he can voice any questions. 

“You never asked me how I knew your identities back then. It was because I recognized the way Dick moved about when he was Robin.” When Jason glances over at him, he’s looking down at his knees, picking at his fingernails. Jason doesn’t reply, choosing to turn his attention back to the album instead. 

There’s at least a hundred photos of Bruce and Dick, all seeming to be taken from a distance.

“Jesus Tim, did you follow them around every night? How old were you?” 

“Fifteen when Selina caught me. But that didn’t happen until after-” He pauses, leaning forward into the box and grabbing the red album. “Here.” He all but tosses the album into Jason’s lap, face tinted pink. 

Jason abandons the blue album for the red, it’s heavier than the blue one. He opens it curiously. At first he thinks it’s all the same stuff, similar pictures taken of Batman and Robin, although these seem to be in better quality, as if Tim got a new camera in between albums. 

Then he notices the different posing of Robin in the photos, the different body type, the wild curly hair. 

“Is this me?” He asks even though he already knows the answer, flipping through the pages eagerly now. 

“You were my favorite.” Tim’s quiet voice makes Jason turn his attention away from the album and back to his boyfriend. His face is now a deep shade of red, blush going all the way down to his neck in bright patches. 

“You were just so different.” He continues. “So carefree and brash. You were everything I wanted to be but I was too afraid of what people might think of me. I admired you.” 

“Oh.” Jason says eloquently, because he’s still trying to take it all in. He looks down at a picture of himself, sitting next to his favorite gargoyle on one of Gotham’s buildings, cigarette in hand. 

“So, on a level of one to ten, how creeped out are you?” Tim asks after a moment, the light tone of his words clearly forced. Jason thinks for a moment before answering.

“Zero.” He answers, laughing at the look of disbelief Tim shoots him. “I’m serious. You act like I didn’t already know you’re a weirdo.” 

“Jason, I stalked you.” Tim scoffs. Jason sighs, dropping both albums back in the box. He stretches out on the bed, pulling a slightly resistant Tim along with him. They settle with Jason laying on his back, arm wrapped around Tim’s shoulders. Tim is on his side, half his body on top of Jason’s. He’s blushing still and pouting a little, but he snuggles up tight against Jason. 

“You did the same thing the paparazzi did to us. Except you were smart enough not to get caught. I mean, you didn’t do it for any malicious or sexual reasons right?” He laughs at the way Tim scrunches up his nose in response. “See? Not creepy. Well, I mean it’s a little weird, but you do a lot of weird things. It’s one of the best things about you.”

“Such a sweet talker.” Tim rolls his eyes at him, but Jason can feel the way the tension eases out of his body. 

They lay there quietly, lost in their own thoughts for awhile before Jason speaks again. He can tell Tim is about to doze off and wants to say what he has to say before he courage leaves him.

“I admired you too, ya know?”

“Hmm?” Tim murmurs sleepily. 

“Back then, the first time I met you as Stray. You were so smart and completely unafraid to give B attitude when we caught you.”

“That was an act.” Tim snickers. “I nearly cried the first time Batman growled at me. He was so much more scary up close.”

“Well I didn’t know that.” Jason says, chuckling. “I used to sneak into the Batcave before Bruce woke up and check to see if we caught any surveillance footage of you the night before. And, if we did I’d watch it on repeat until I heard Bruce start coming down the stairs.”

Tim is quiet for long enough that Jason thinks he’s fallen asleep before he responds. 

“Weirdo.” He says quietly. Jason can feel him smiling from where his lips are pressed against his collarbone and would bet money that Tim’s face is red again.


	4. Another Stray!Tim/Robin!Jay (Off-screen abuse warning)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anon asked: If his father was even slightly more inclined to have a villainous side (for example abuse verses secretly smuggling/black market...), how would Tim's dad react to finding out his son is Stray?...With Jason recusing Tim
> 
> WARNING: This chapter contains parental abuse, nothing graphic on scene but it still could be triggering. Please use caution when reading!

“Where were you last night?” The question makes Tim pause in his search for breakfast in their kitchen cabinets. There’s nothing, as usual, but Tim doesn’t mind having the door to hide his expression from his father.

“What do you mean?” Tim asks in monotone, mentally calculating if he had time to stop at Selina’s for some food before school. He absolutely doesn’t want to touch the money he has saved up in the tiny box under his bed. That was for emergencies, and skipping breakfast every now and then definitely didn’t count as one of those.

The cabinet door slams, nearly crushing Tim’s fingers in the process as his dad slides right up into his bubble. 

“You know damn well what I mean,” Tim doesn’t bother to hide his grimace as the scent of cheap vodka and Camel menthol invades his senses. “I checked on you before I went to bed, your room was empty.” 

“I was at a friends,” Tim says after a moment's pause. He starts to step away from the foul smelling man in front of him, but Jack quickly puts a stop to that, catching his wrist and squeezing until Tim’s hand starts to tingle. 

“Which friend?”

“Someone from school. You don’t know them.” Tim stares at the hand on his wrist, thinking about the nerve strike Jason taught him last month that would cause his Jack’s whole hand to go numb. Or how he could twist his father’s wrist just enough to fracture the bone. He doesn’t do either.

“Tell me next time.” 

Tim wants to ask, ‘Or what?’, but the fire in his father’s bloodshot eyes keeps him silent. 

***

Jason meets him in their usual spot at lunch, under a shady tree in the school-yard. 

“I told you I’d get top marks on the calc final.” He says, digging into the lunch Alfred packed for him. “That Anderson kid can eat my ass if he thinks he’s gonna get to be valedictorian.”

“Tell him to save some for me.” Tim laughs loud at the stunned expression Jason sends him, feeling the headache he had been fighting all day finally start to fade away.

He reaches over to steal Jason’s apple, flinching a little when a hand grabs his wrist. 

“What happened to your arm?” Jason asks, grip gentle as he expects the newly formed bruise Tim is sporting. 

“Oh that’s-” Tim tugs on his wrist, letting out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding when Jason easily lets it go.  “One of the thugs from last night must have gotten ahold of me during the fight.” 

“Well make sure you ice it tonight. It’ll help with the swelling.” Tim nods, unable to hold back a smile at his boyfriend’s sweetly concerned face. He leans over to kiss him, partly because he wants to and partly because he doesn’t want to talk anymore.

He hears giggles break out among the girls seated not too far away from them and raises his middle finger without breaking the kiss.

***

His father is standing in the middle of the hallway when he gets home from school, blocking Tim’s way past. Tim tries to ease his way past, keeping his eyes to the floor but Jack moves as soon as Tim is within arms reach. 

Tim watches as Jack’s hand comes forward to grab a handful of his hair, nails digging into his scalp painfully. 

“I expect you to stay in that room tonight, are we understood?” Tim nods as much as he's able to in this position, eyeing Jack’s throat and picturing himself delivering a palm strike that would send Jack to his knees. 

He doesn’t move until his father releases him, rushing to his room and closing the door firmly behind him.

He sends a text to both Selina and Jason separately, letting them know he’s not feeling up to patrolling with them tonight. He smiles when he gets back from his shower to find messages from both of them. Selina’s is just a collage a cute cats, her normal response to most texts.  

Jason tells him that he misses him and to look forward to the soup he’ll bring him to lunch tomorrow.

Tim doesn’t sleep that night, so he’s awake all six times his father peaks into his room to make sure he’s still there.

***

Tim shoves Jason away when he leans in to kiss him at the end of the school day, smelling like Camel menthols. He ignores his boyfriend’s hurt expression as he rushes to the bathroom to throw up the soup from earlier.

***

He avoids patrol as long as he can, but when Oracle calls to inform him there’s been a breakout at Arkham Asylum, he thinks of all the dangerous villains Selina, Bruce, and Jason will be going up against and rushes to throw on his suit. 

***

He doesn’t make it back home fast enough. His father is sitting in a chair, waiting for him with a bottle of vodka when he crawls in through his window, exhausted, three hours later.

***

Jason is worried. 

Worried about the way Tim has been acting lately, worried about the bags under his eyes that keep getting darker, worried about his boyfriend’s lack of appetite, when he normally can eat his entire body weight in food.

He grows even more concerned whenever Tim leaves after the last escapee is rounded up, without uttering a single word to any of them. The others notice it too, Selina and Bruce both frowning at Tim’s retreating form.

“I’ll go check on him,” He says finally, after a few moments of heavy silence. 

“Keep us posted.” Selina says with Bruce nodding in agreement. 

He shoots Tim a text when he gets close, assuming he probably hasn’t had time to get out of his costume, let alone fall asleep yet, but Jason doesn’t want to barge into his room unannounced. They haven’t quite reached that stage of their relationship yet.  

He paces on the rooftop across the street as he waits for Tim to answer him. After a few minutes pass, he thinks maybe Tim really was already asleep. He has his grapple out, ready to head home when he hears the yelling, and then a loud crash. 

Jason leaps the distance between the two buildings without hesitation, sliding open Tim’s bedroom window and slipping in soundlessly. He blinks in the darkness for a moment, looking around Tim’s room. It’s a mess, his bed and dresser have both been overturned, sheets and clothes strewn out of the floor. He notices a smear of blood near the door and swallows hard.

Another crash snaps him out of it, his body and mind going into Robin mode on instinct so he can handle this as efficiently as possible. He creeps down the hallway, disturbed at the now quiet household. When he turns the corner he discovers the reason why.

Tim’s dad is in the middle of the living room, standing over Tim’s limp form with what looks to be a frying pan. 

He tries to stay in Robin mode, just another perp and another victim, but it doesn’t work out very well. 

Jack’s face is an unrecognizable lump of purple and red by the time Bruce pulls him off, pinning his arms at his sides and whispering words that Jason can’t hear. Selina has Tim’s head cradled in her lap, eyes sparkling with either tears for rage, he can’t tell.

****

Bruce pulls some strings to make the adoption process quick and painless for both Selina and Tim. He also arranges a penthouse for them to stay in, not too far away from the manor. Selina almost declines the offer at first, but after a glance at Tim, she accepts. 

Tim lies and tell them he’s okay, really. That he had been hit harder by the thugs they faced nearly every night. No one believes him. 

He finally tells Jason about it one night, after a seemingly random breakdown in the penthouse livingroom during one of their date nights. Jason had been expecting it though, knew Tim had been holding things in for too long and they were bound to overflow sooner or later. 

Jason listens and holds him after he’s sure Tim would be comfortable with that, vowing to visit Jack once he got released from his too short prison sentence. 


	5. Robin!Jay/Civilian!Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anon request from Tumblr: "A JayTim prompt where young abandoned/lonely!Tim stumbles across a new entrance to the Bat cave when spelunking (with or without the correct gear- cue later protective!Jason freakout) but never tells anyone even when he is Stray. ...he might have used it to snag some of Alfred's or Jason's cooking though."

His parents think it’s strange that he doesn’t hang out with very many of the kids his age. His therapist tells them that it’s normal for children in their early teens to feel alienated from their peers. Tim thinks that adults should have more important things to worry about than his social life...or lack thereof. 

When he voices his thoughts on the matter, the three adults agree he also has an attitude problem and his therapist suggests that he picks up a hobby, one that gets him out of the house for a few hours during the summer months. 

Tim picks photography, partly because he knows his dad wants him to join the football club and his mom wants him to take dance lessons...again. But it’s mostly because he wants to be able to have mementos for when he follows Batman and Robin around at night. 

His parents buy him a camera that they claim is “The best”. Tim isn’t really sure what would determine it to be the best but the pictures come out beautifully clear. He almost kills himself the first night he tests it out on the dynamic duo, getting too close to the edge of a roof and falling onto a fire escape below.

He frantically checks that his camera isn’t broken before the realization that he almost died hits him and he lays there, giggling hysterically until his heart beat slows down.

He has to take pictures of normal things, during normal hours so his parents don’t start to get suspicious. His favorite subject, besides Robin, is nature. He goes out to the woods in the outskirts of Gotham, getting further and further away from the city each time he goes out. 

One day he wanders far enough out that he has to take a rest before he heads back home, so he sits down against the trunk of a tree, falling asleep almost instantly. 

He wakes up several hours later thinking he’s experiencing an earthquake. It’s dark and he’s disoriented but he is certain that the ground below him is shaking. Then he notices the rocks shifting on the hillside in front of him. 

Tim takes cover behind the tree, laying flat on his stomach as he watches the rocks part  to show an opening that seems to go deeper into the ground on a steep slide. He starts to get up but then headlights make him drop back down on his stomach. 

He watches in shock as the Batmobile itself drives past him. He stares after it for a moment, eyes wide and mouth open before the ground shaking again draws his attention back to the hill. He sprints over to it, staring down into the pitch black and smiling as an idea forms in his head. 

*****

He makes his dad buy him spelunking equipment the next time they’re out shopping. Nothing fancy, just things that look like they'll help him explore safely. He regrets not doing better research before going out.

He lies and says that they’re only props for his next shoot when Jack gives him a skeptical look as he puts the items in the cart. When his father still seems hesitate, he shows off his best Drake grin and adds a sweet please at the end of his request. And, like so many times before, it makes his father give in. 

***

He has to wait until his parents are out of town again to put them to the test. Thankfully they are usually traveling for work half the month, so the wait isn’t long at all.

It's already dusk when he gets back to the cave entrance but he's not exactly sure what time Batman starts his patrol for the night. Tim has only followed him between midnight and two in the morning at the latest but B’s patrol might even start as soon as the sunsets.

He settles down against the trunk of the very same tree he fell asleep against before, pulling out his camera and spending awhile adjusting the lens and taking test shots. After he's satisfied that everything is setup correctly, he pulls out his phone playing games on it while he waits. And waits. And waits.

He's almost dozed off again by the rocks begin to shift at eleven forty-five. This time he hardly pays any attention to the Batmobile as it zooms past him, gathering his supplies a running in a crouch toward the entrance to stay out of sight.

He barely makes it through as the rocks slide shut around him, almost getting squished between them. And then he's in darkness.

Feeling instantly creeped out, he fumbles in his bag until he finds his helmet, slipping it on his head and flipping on the attached flashlight. He looks around, it's still pretty dark and smells weird. 

He feels slightly underwhelmed before looking down and squeaking. The noise echoes off the cave walls as he looks down into the incredibly steep downward slope that seems to drop into nothingness. 

He looks back to the wall of rocks behind him and shrugs. Going down is the only way he can go now. He attaches the pulley to what looks like a pretty solid section of rock wall and ties the rope around he waist and thighs. He starts climbing, feeling confident in his equipment.

His equipment gives out a short while later, the rope snapping from somewhere above him and sending him tumbling into the darkness. 

He has time to think,  _ Oh god I’m so dead, _ before he hits solid ground, landing painfully on his shoulder. He rolls onto his back, wheezing at the searing pain in his shoulder, and taking in his surroundings. He can hear fluttering above him and brief flashes of glowing lights as a group of bats blinks down at him.

Tim moves carefully, rolling onto his feet and taking a look around. The Batcave is everything he’d imagined and more. It seems like Batman has made his very own military base down here, every inch of the cave put to use in some way or another. 

He explores around for awhile, taking in everything with breathless awe. There’s more weapons and gadgets than he can count, multiple different types of Batmobiles, a gym with training mats ( _ where Robin probably does his workouts) _ , an infirmary and lastly, a large computer that seems to light up the whole cave, drawing Tim to it instantly. 

He sits down in the chair in front of the computer, grinning. This is where Batman must spend most of his time when he’s trying to solve a case. He feels giddy, a strong urge to scream for some reason. He’s interrupted from his inner geek out when he hears a door open somewhere in the darkness to his left. 

He leaps from the chair and under the desk, careful of the wires as he shifts back as far as he can. The footsteps get closer and closer. His mind races, wondering who it could be. Who else would have access to the Batcave?

The footsteps come right in front of the computer. Tim holds his breath as a man in black dress pants presses a few buttons on the keyboard. And then there’s silence. Tim frowns, wishing he would just go away already. 

Finally, finally, the man turns and walks away, back toward the direction from where he came from. Tim waits a few seconds before creeping after him. He has to find a way out before Batman and Robin come back anyway. 

As he expected the man leads him right to a way out of the cave. He has to wait a few moments after the man has gone through the door before going through himself. He enters a large hallway that he assumes is part of Wayne manor and nearly laughs out loud when he sees where he came out of. 

“A clock,” He whispers, amazed. “Awesome!” 

Noises from one of the rooms down the hallway scare him into searching for a way to leave the manor, luckily the front door is close by. He opens it quietly, sprinting toward the gate at the end of the driveway before someone notices him trespassing. 

****

After he meets Selina and takes on the role of her Stray, he doesn't have the time to go back into the cave very often. 

He never tells anyone about it, not Selina, who he trusts with almost everything. Not Harley or Ivy, even during their post petty crime slumber parties where they share  _ some _ of their secrets. 

And he most certainly doesn't tell Robin. Even after they've traded identities. He knows why he doesn't tell the girls obviously, but he's not sure why his throat seems to close up every time he's about to tell Robin. 

***

Eventually he stops going there altogether, too busy with life and his new role as a vigilante, helping out Batman and Robin when they need it. It’s surprisingly often, he runs intel for them on several occasions, wondering how they functioned before without his help.

***

The next time he enters the cave isn’t under the same terms. He’s in the Batmobile, heart racing and hands shaking from the earlier events of the night. Batman is driving, clenching the steering wheel in an iron tight grip. His face is impassive other than the occasional twitching of his bottom lip. He’s been silent ever since they put Jason’s unconscious form in the back.

_ Three months _ . Jason had been missing for three months. Harley hadn’t even known where he was being kept but Tim never gave up, not even after the Joker sent in the video faking Jason’s death. It took Tim almost getting killed in order to get close enough to the Joker to put a tracker on him and then he had followed him into Arkham.

“He…He’s gonna be okay, right?”

Batman grunts in response, gripping the wheel even tighter. Tim wants to comfort him somehow but he’s honestly just too exhausted. Plus he doesn’t think B will react too well to a shoulder pat or a hug based on the way Tim had to pull him off the Joker’s battered, nearly dead body not even half an hour earlier. 

They pull into the Batcave and Tim is opening his door before the car comes to a complete stop, rushing over to the infirmary. He digs through the drawers, finding everything they need as fast as possible. Once he has all the supplies he thinks they need, he turns to find B standing near the bed, just staring at him. Jason is limp in his arms.

“Put him on the bed.” Tim commands, frustrated. That seems to snap Batman out of whatever trance he was in, he moves quickly to settle Jason in. Tim tries to help but is eventually pushed away along with B once Alfred takes over. 

He falls asleep, curled up in the Batcomputer chair, months of not getting enough sleep and a stressful night catching up to him.

He only wakes up once to the sound of typing. Bruce stands in front of the keyboard in only his pajamas. 

“Jason?” Tim asks, blinking slowly. His voice is scratchy.

“Asleep. A few broken bones that’ll heal in time.” Bruce doesn’t look away from whatever he’s typing up, probably the report for the night. 

“Do you want the chair back? I can just-”

“Go back to sleep, Tim. You did well tonight.” Tim doesn’t need to be told twice, head falling back against the chair, snoring before a minute has passed.

He wakes up again to the feel of someone dragging their fingers through his hair. He’s also laying down this time. When he opens his eyes, Jason is looking right back at him. Someone had moved him onto the cot next to Jason’s bed. 

“Good morning.” Jason says. He looks like he woke up not too long ago. 

“Hey, how’re you feeling?” 

“Like I was kidnapped by a creepy clown maniac and used as his punching bag for…”

“Three months.” Tim finishes for him quietly.

“ _ Three? _ ! I thought-” Jason swallows hard. “Goddamnit.” Jason’s eyes glaze over, his mind going to someplace other than the Batcave infirmary.

“Jason-”

“So,” Jason clears his throat. “Brucie tells me you knew an awful lot about the cave….and Alfred had some interesting things to add to that.” Tim flushes.

“Uh yeah. Well I might have discovered the cave a few years back on accident and decided to check it out.” Jason stares at him incredulously.

“Okay, but how did you get down here without Bruce knowing?”

“I...climbed.” 

“Climbed with what?”   
  


“A pulley and some rope...”

Jason bows up, taking a deep breath in preparation for a lecture that Tim just knows is coming. He relaxes into the cot, letting to Jason lecture him on safety for as long as he wants. Anything to keep that glazed over look from crossing his eyes again.


	6. Highschool AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request from Tumblr:
> 
> “Hello! I’m not sure whether you take requests but I love your writing, especially Philophobia, and would love to see some more high school caretaking stuff. Maybe Tim is sick and Jason looks after him / worries about him or something?”

“There he is!” Roy jabs Jason in the arm painfully. It causes the pen Jason’s holding in his hand to scratch a line of black ink down the center of his homework. He frowns, worried that teacher will take off points for the mess. If Roy just ruined his perfect GPA so help him…

Then his words fully process and Jason turns to the front of the room so fast he nearly gives himself whiplash. Because there _ he _ was. The  _ he _ that has haunted Jason’s thoughts ever since  _ he _ asked Jason to borrow some gum in the seventh grade, five years ago, even though they haven’t spoken since. The  _ he _ that Kori and Roy have teased Jason relentlessly over, because nothing makes Jason a nervous wreck like  _ he _ does. 

Timothy Jackson Drake stands at the front of the room, getting lectured by the teacher for being ten minutes late on their first day back from Winter break. It’s a new semester and Jason had been secretly hoping he’d have at least one class with Tim, since it’s their senior year and possibly his last chance to work up the courage to talk to him. 

“He looks terrible,” Roy whispers beside him. Jason’s mind vehemently disagrees, although looking him over, he supposes Tim doesn’t quite look as put together as he normally does. His outfit itself is already drawing whispers and giggles from their peers, with his black long sleeve shirt both on backwards and inside out, red striped pajama pants, and hair pulled into a messy bun. Jason nearly smiles, he looks like an adorable mess.

“Seriously?” Jason looks over to find Roy giving him an amused smirk and flushes. “Your love really knows no bounds.”

“Shh!” Jason turns his attention back to Tim, making sure he hadn’t somehow heard even though they’re seated in the back of the room. Thankfully Tim doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to his surroundings, his puffy eyes glazed over as the teacher continues laying into him. Jason frowns, taking a closer look at Tim’s face.

“Hey, he looks kinda sick doesn’t he?...Roy?” Jason turns to find an empty desk sitting beside him. He looks around the room wildy, spotting Roy now sitting in the far of corner of the room. He gapes as Roy waves back at him cheerily.

“I’m going to let you off just this once, Mr. Drake, only because it’s the first day back from school. Go ahead and find a seat.”

It’s with a detached sense of horror, that Jason finally realizes why exactly Roy switched seats. His heart leaps up to his throat as Tim’s eyes scan the room, landing on the only seat that isn’t occupied. The one right next to Jason. 

Tim drags his feet as he walks over, his slippers gliding across the floor until he gets to his desk. The rows are close, so when Tim leans down to put his bag by his feet, his shoulder brushes against Jason’s. 

“Sorry,” Jason says, already flustered.

“My bad,” Tim says at the same time. His voice is shaky, like he’s about to lose it any second. “Wait, why are you sorry? I bumped into you.”

“Oh. I uh...I don’t know.” Jason says, staring a hole into his paper. Tim shakes his head and starts to laugh but it quickly turns into a painful hacking that shakes his whole frame. Jason winces in sympathy before reaching into his bag, pulling out the pack of mints he always has and hands one over to Tim.

“Thanks,” Tim croaks after he's finally able to breath. He smiles at Jason, making his already swollen eyes scrunch up. Jason quickly looks back to the front of the room before he says something embarrassing. Thankfully the teacher decides now is a good time to actually begin the lesson. Jason relaxes a little bit, thinking his interaction with Tim will be over for the duration of this class at least and he won't have another opportunity to embarrass himself. 

He doesn't count on how little Tim seems to care about actually learning something in this class and after about twenty minutes in, Jason hears the sound of metal scraping across the floor. It doesn't bother him until something bumps his desk, causing his pen to cast another line through the middle of his notes. He sighs. He really should start writing in pencil. Jason turns to see what could have bumped him, making a strangled noise when he comes face to face with Tim. 

Tim, who had slid his desk right up to Jason's willingly and was now leaning on his elbow, watching him. 

“Hey,” 

“Hi?” Jason looks toward the teacher cautiously. Thankfully he seems too focused on the demonstration he's doing with a reluctant student to notice them.

“I didn't know mints could help with a cough, I thought only cough drops did that.” 

“I didn't either,” He shrugs. “I just figured it couldn't hurt.” 

“Oh,” The silence falls heavy between them and Jason tries to keep the frown off his face. He just doesn't know why Tim had to slide up next to him just to make that comment. He wonders if Tim feels as awkward as he does or if it's just Jason being weird. 

He risks a glance, finding Tim nibbling on his pencil eraser with a troubled look on his face. When Tim catches Jason looking he lowers the pencil from his mouth so fast he hits his elbow on the corner of the desk with a loud crack. 

Jason snickers, covering his mouth with his hand to keep quiet while Tim glares at him. 

“Shut up,” He hisses ears turning red. It makes Jason laugh harder, getting a stern look from their teacher. 

They don’t talk after that, but the awkwardness in the air is gone. Tim doesn't move his desk away from Jason's, listening to the lesson for all of five minutes before pillowing his head in his arms and falling asleep. 

After class, Jason marches up to Roy and punches him in his arm.

“Ow! Dude,” Roy pouts. “Uncalled for. I'm telling Kori.” 

“Yeah and I'm gonna tell her how you abandoned me in first period. Seriously, what the hell?”

“I didn't abandon you,” Roy rolls his eyes, slamming his locker and leading the way down the hall. “I was giving you an opportunity. Now that you'll have your little angel sitting right next to you every morning, the chances of you actually talking to him are a lot better.”

“Whatever,” Jason scoffs. 

“You'll thank me later, lover boy!” Roy sings, playfully shoving at Jason's shoulder. 

***

Jason doesn’t spot Tim again until the end of the day, leaning his forehead against his locker. Jason hesitates in going to check on him. He’s sweaty after gym last period, but concern overrides self consciousness and he makes his way over to the other boy.

“Tim,” Jason pokes him when he doesn’t respond. “You okay?” 

“No.” He moans. “I’m dying.” 

“No you’re not.” Jason looks around the nearly empty hallway surrounding them. “Are you gonna miss your ride home?”

“Steph is gonna take me.” He sniffs. “After cheer practice.”

“I could take you now.” Jason says almost too eagerly.. Tim tilts his head to regard Jason with sweet hopeful eyes.

“Can we stop at Dairy Queen first? I think a blizzard is gonna be the only cure for this cold.”

***

Jason wakes up the next day with a cough and a small fever from when Tim offered him a bite off his spoon. 

They make plans for Jason to give Tim rides home three days a week, when Stephanie has practice, and decide to stop for ice cream on at least one of those days. 

Jason coughs pulling out his phone to send a text, a simple **_**Thank you**_** ****, to Roy.


	7. Werewolf!Tim Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request from Tumblr: "JayTim: Jason as Red Hood (aka bamf!Stiles) and Tim as a werefox or werewolf. With a sneeze spoiling Tim's responding threats and Jason just finding it adorable."

  
  
"There was another attack last night." Roy shoves past him to get into Jason's living room and drops down on his couch.   
  
"Oh good morning, Jason. Sorry for interrupting your beauty sleep and making my unwelcome self at home, but I'm a dipwad with no manners apparently." Jason gripes, rubbing his face to try to wake himself up. He had just gotten in from his last job only-he looks over at the clock and scowls when he sees the time-five hours ago.   
  
"It's not like there's a schedule for when a Were decides they want to stick their teeth in something. Besides, you’re the lead executioner. You knew what the job was when you signed up for it."    
  
"I know, I know." Jason sighs. "The victim, were they killed or-?"    
  
"No," Roy sits back up and looks at Jason with solemn eyes. "The attack wasn't meant to kill. The kid was bit and scratched several times but it looked like the attacker mapped it out so they wouldn't kill him. They wanted him to turn."    
  
Jason stares at Roy in disbelief before heading into his kitchen. He's going to need some coffee in order to deal with this shit.    
  
He waits until he has a steaming mug in his hand before getting back to the problem at hand. By this point Roy must have gotten impatient with waiting on the couch and is now sitting at Jason's table with his own empty mug in front of him.    
  
Jason pointedly ignores the cup and Roy's following pout. He's not cruel enough to deny Roy coffee but he refuses to pour it for him. He is not a damn housewife.    
  
"Do we have any suspects? Any Lycans the victim might have pissed off?" Jason asks as his friend pours his cup. His coffee is too hot to drink right now but even breathing it in makes him feel more awake.    
  
"That's the thing," Roy sighs. "It was Drake's kid that got attacked. Jack is very public about his views on Weres and how they're just 'exotic beasts that need tamed'. Most of them have a bit of a problem with him."    
  
"So this was like a political move? Get his son under their power to influence Jack?" Jason rubs his eyes. He remembers seeing a kid standing with Jack and Janet during the gala he was forced to go to over the summer. He had seemed charming, too sweet to have to pay for something his father did. Jason felt for him, he knew what that was like.    
  
"You don't think it could be Bruce?" Roy asks in almost a whisper. "They got into a pretty heated debate last time they met to review the treaty."    
  
"No," Jason says firmly. "B's a prick and an Alpha but he's one of the good ones. He wouldn't turn someone against their will like that. Although the timing is suspicious." Jason frowns. "Who would want to hurt the Drake's and make the Wayne pack look bad at the same time?"    
  
Jason knew the answer even before the question left his lips. He watches as understanding dawns on Roy’s face.

“Ra’s.”

The ride to the hospital is a short one but Kori is already waiting for him at the front desk when he gets there. 

“He’s gone.” She says before he can even greet her. He seriously needs to start hanging out with a new crowd. One that actually knows how proper conversation etiquette goes.He’s about to complain about it just on principle before the meaning of her words hit him.

“He died? I thought Roy said his body was accepting the bite?”

“No, I mean he ran away.” Kori gets close to him so she can talk to him in a low voice. “His father went into his room and the next thing I knew Jack had been thrown onto the hall floor and his son had jumped out the window. Jack had a silver knife on him,” She scoffs. “I think he was going to try to kill him.”

“Fucking hell,” Jason whispers, shocked. “I knew he hated Lycans but his own son? You arrested Jack right?”

“We did but Tim’s still missing and who knows what’s going through his head right now. You need to find him before someone else does.”

It takes Jason less than an hour to find where Tim is hiding out. Tracking is something he does nearly every time he’s on a hunt and a distressed Were running through the woods tends to lead a bit of a trail.

The trail lead him to the entrance of a small cave not even two miles into the woods. Tim must have gotten overwhelmed with his newly developed senses and needed a place to hide out. 

“Hey Tim,” He calls out into the darkness, not wanting Tim to think he was trying to sneak up on him. “I’m Jason. I come in peace.” He’s answered by a low growl reverberating off the cave walls. 

“Well that’s not ominous or anything.” Jason rolls his shoulders, taking a deep breath before stepping into the cave. Tim may be brand new but he’s still just as strong as the next Were and right now he’s scared, which makes him even more dangerous. 

It takes him a few seconds for his eyes to adjust in the dark. He’s on edge the whole time, waiting to be attacked but the low growling never changing in pitch to signify one was coming.

He reaches into his pocket, trying to get to the flashlight on his phone but has to dodge to the ground when he hears feet sprinting toward him. He rolls, going for the wolfsbane spray instead and lifting it up in time to come face to face with Tim.

He’s half transformed already with pointed ears, catlike pupils, and sharp nails. He’s crouched in front of Jason snarling but wary of the bottle he holds in his hands. 

“Yeah you don’t like this do you?” Jason waggles it, watching as Tim’s eyes trace the movement. He wonders how much of Tim’s mind is actually present right now or if the beast has taken over him completely. “I won’t use this if you don’t use your teeth on me, kay?”

Tim leans in to sniff at it before leaning right back and scrunching up his nose to let out a sneeze. It’s a quiet, high pitched sound that conflicts completely with his wolfed out looks. It makes Jason smile for a reason he can’t explain and he lowers the spray back down into his lap. 

“Can you understand me at all right now?” He waits patiently while Tim blinks owlishly at him for a few seconds. He’s just about to give up on a response when Tim nods at him, just once. 

“Good,” Jason smiles warmly at him. He resists the crazy urge to reach out a run a hand through Tim’s hair. “Want to come with me so we can take you to someone who knows how to coach you back into a real boy?”   
  
Tim nods, faster to respond this time and stands up with Jason. Jason grabs his hand to lead him out of the cave, knowing that it was about time for Bruce to adopt to another stray anyway.   
  



	8. Werewolf!Tim Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anon request: "JayTim: Red "riding' Hood and werewolf style. Only with a twist. Jason the "Red Hood" is a unique sort of hunter given that he will equally brutally attack or defend what he deems "his" from other hunters or creatures. And Tim, is most definitely HIS."

“The kid is still a threat.” Jason glares down at Jack when the other man speaks, furious at how he’s speaking about his own son as if Tim is a stranger now. They are surrounded by every member of the Hunter’s council, most of them had flown in earlier this morning after they heard about what happened. 

“I can confirm that’s a lie. He was scared before understandably,” Jason throws a scathing look toward Jack. “But he never hurt anyone, even me when I was alone with him in the cave.” 

“And where is he now?” Diana asks to Jason’s left. She’s the head executioner of Washington, D.C  and has the most Lycan kills under her belt, with her only weapons being a rope dipped in wolfsbane and a silver sword. She’s highly respected so Jason knows having her support is crucial to keeping Tim unharmed. 

“I brought him to the Wayne pack.” Jason answers, ignoring displeased murmurs from some of the hunters. A lot of them didn’t agree with the treaty Jason had formed with the Wayne’s. “Bruce agreed to take him in and help him adjust to all the new changes he’s going through right now. He’ll be more stable surrounded by pack, especially one with the morals of the Wayne pack.” 

Diana eyes him for a moment, considering his words before she nods. Jason feels relief sweep through him for just a moment before Jack speaks up again.

“Have we forgotten how he attacked me in the hospital?” He exclaims, looking around the room. Slade perks up at this, bloodthirsty asshole. He’s been known to look for any excuse to kill a Lycan. 

“You attacked him first and he reacted in self-defence, the way anyone would.”

“Hmm, you left out that little detail when you called for this meeting, Jackie-boy.” Harley says from her seat, chopping loudly on her gum. “I woulda put you on your ass too if you were trying to kill me.” Jack flushes angrily but wisely keeps his mouth shut. 

Harley is only a few kills away from being tied with Diana. She has ragged scars up and down her arms from the time she killed the infamous were-hyena nicknamed Joker, because of the way he laughed whenever he made a kill. 

“There’s a reason we have laws not to kill innocent Lycans,” Diana looks at him sternly. “We don’t want to become monsters ourselves in the process of trying to protect humanity. We’ll be discussing your punishment shortly.” Jack pales but Diana appears to be finished speaking with him because she turns to Jason now.

“Vouching for a Lycan is a lot of responsibility. You’ll be in charge of enforcing your protection over him by taking care of Ra’s, and you’ll have to answer to us if Tim decides to act out. Just like your bond with the Wayne’s.” 

“I understand.” Jason says, feeling a surge of protectiveness just thinking about how confused and scared Tim was that day in the cave. “Ra’s has been a problem for some time now, I’m just glad to finally have an excuse to hunt him.” He turns his head to make eye contact with Jack the next time he speaks. 

“I accept responsibility of Tim’s protection, if anyone as much as looks at him the wrong way, they’ll answer to me.”

***

Alfred greets him at the Wayne manor door, not thirty seconds after he’s finished knocking. 

“Mr. Todd, here to see Timothy I presume?”

“If you think he’s feeling up for it.” Jason shrugs. “I just wanted to check on how he was doing.” 

“I’d say he’s doing fairly well considering.” Alfred says, gesturing for Jason to come in. “Dick’s in his room with him right now, helping him get settled.” 

Even though Jason has been in the manor a few times before, it never ceases to amaze him how big it is. Or how eerie the oil painting of past and present Wayne family members are. He rolls his eyes as he passes one of Bruce that looks relatively close to the age B is now. Egotistical bastard. 

When they get to Tim’s room the door is wide open so he can see Tim and Dick sitting on the bed going through what looks to be a box of clothes. 

“Hey Jay!” Dick smiles brightly when he looks over to see him there. “It’s been awhile.”

“Yeah…” Jason looks away from Dick toward Tim and finds the other boy already looking at him. He only holds Jason’s gaze for a second before looking back down to fiddle with his bed sheets. Dick clears his throat.

“Well I’m just gonna go do something that involves me not being here so you guys can have a little chat.” He says, standing up and making his way over to the door. 

“You could pick Damian up from school if you don’t have anything else to do.” Alfred says as he leaves with Dick. Jason smirks when he hears Dick’s loud groan follow. 

Then it’s just him and Tim, alone with a tense, awkward silence. Jason sighs, wishing socializing came to him as easy as it did to Dick. He decides to just get it over with and walks over to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it. 

“Hey, Tim. How’re you feeling?” Jason grimaces when the question comes out because of how obviously not okay Tim is. He still has bandages from his encounter with Ra’s lined up both of his arms and around his neck. His eyes are bloodshot and have dark bags under them.. 

“Everything smells weird.” He finally speaks up, still staring a hole into his comforter. 

“Yeah, I bet that has to suck.” Jason wrinkles his nose. “I think Gotham stinks as it is and that’s with my human nose.” 

“My dad…?” Tim trails off, finally raising his head to look at Jason.

“You’re dad is an asshole who isn’t gonna bother you again.” Jason says sharply, regretting it when Tim’s eyes widen. “Unless you want to see him?”

“No not right anyway, maybe once I get more control over my new abilities and can mess with him a little. Just to scare,” He corrects quickly, once he catches Jason raised eyebrow. “I won’t actually hurt him or anything.”

“Good boy.” 

“Already with the dog jokes?” 

“Sorry I can’t help it,” Jason shrugs. “It’s engraved in my DNA to be a shithead.” Tim shakes his head but he’s smiling now. It’s a small one, hardly even a twitch of his lips but it’s a start. “You’re going to be okay. You know that, right?” 

Tim’s smile drops, but it’s replaced but a look of fiery determination that Jason likes just as much. 

“I know.” He says without hesitation. He looks more sure of himself than Jason has seen since the attack, looks like he could be a threat to the wrong person, looks like a _survivor_. Jason grins, knowing Tim will adapt to being a wolf just fine. 


	9. Kidnapped Stray!Tim/Robin!Jay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anon said: “Slightly-sleep-deprived request for JayTim involving kidnapped!Tim and protective!Jason and protective-(approving of Jason)!Selina"

The last of Black Mask’s goons falls limp at Jason’s feet after a sharp strike to the side of his neck. Jason scans the perimeter of the warehouse to ensure all threats are eliminated before turning his attention to the boy tied up in the center of the room.

Stray’s arms are clasped together above his head and tied to a rafter on the ceiling. The goonies weren’t trying to keep him comfortable, Jason notes, looking at the way Stray is forced on his tiptoes because of the short length of the rope. He looks uncomfortable and Jason sympathizes, he’s been held hostage by sadistic tools before, but first-

“Now what did we learn today?” He says, placing his hands on his hips.

It should be hard for the anger to show on Stray’s face, with the goggles and the gag covering most of it, but he positively snarls. Jason’s tempted to say something hokey like ‘Down kitty’, but he also wants to keep his genitals after Stray gets free.

“We learned,” Jason waggles a finger as he answers his own question. “That it is not cool to take on a crime lord by yourself. Especially when you can barely keep up with me. And what are you anyway, like twelve? You’ve got at least four more years before before you’ve got a right to act this cocky.”

It’s muffled but Jason can hear the “I’m seventeen, you asshole.” that comes through Stray’s gag. Jason chuckles because of course that’s the only thing Stray would acknowledge. He finally takes pity on him and moves closer so he can untie him.

Jason starts with the gag and that’s as far as he gets before Stray is moving on his own. He leaps up, wrapping his legs around Jason’s waist and uses his new height to slash the ropes above his head with the retractable claws on his gloves.

Jason shifts his stance to support his weight and, after a moment of slight hesitation, places his hands under Stray’s thighs. Stray pauses his movements, eyes flickering down to meet his with a look that makes Jason’s pulse stutter, before returning his attention to freeing himself.

He doesn’t move right away after the ropes have been thoroughly sliced through, instead dropping his arms around Jason’s shoulder and leaning his face close enough that Jason’s breath hitches against his will. Stray stays there long enough that Jason finds himself moving forward before he slides down to stand on his own.

Jason stares as Stray stretches his neck to the side and rolls his shoulders, sighing after a particularly loud pop from his bones.

“Bye bye, Honeypie.” Stray gives Jason a little wave before turning and heading to the exit.

“What?” Jason blinks. “Hey wait! Aren’t you even gonna say thank you? I’m pretty sure I just saved your life!”

“My hero,” Strays calls, but doesn’t slow in his stride. Jason starts to follow but a firm hand landing on his shoulder stops him. Batman and Catwoman seem to materalize out of no where on either side of him.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Catwoman’s voice is in a deadly purr. Stray freezes in his tracks then pivots around to face the three of them.

“I was uh,” Stray flounders for a moment and Jason almost pities him. Almost. “I was going to look for you! To bring you the good news!”

“Good news?” Batman growls.

“Yup!” Stray chirps. “I figured they’d take me to where they load their delivery trucks to hide me, and they did. So I was able to put a tracker on the gun shipment and as soon I get on my laptop I’ll be able to track where the meetings going to be.” He grins, proud of himself.

“Wait a second, did you get kidnapped on purpose?” Jason asks incredulously.

“Yes?” Stray asks.

“Are you kidding me?” Catwoman hisses.

“You said we needed to find out where the exchange was happening no matter what!”

Catwoman sighs, rubbing a hand over her face.

“They always take what you say literally.” Batman says, staring a hole in the side of Jason’s head. Jason scoffs but chooses not to comment.

“Yeah, I’m starting to get that.” Catwoman rolls her eyes. She walks over to Stray and grabs his arm to pull him with her. “I have to have a word with my assistant here, Bats. We’ll get back to you on where the truck is heading.” She turns to Jason then. “And thanks for rescuing him, little hero.”

Jason ignores her teasing tone and how Stray rolls his eyes, grinning at her. “Anytime!”


	10. Tim can't fall asleep and Jason helps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anon Request:  
> Somniphobia: the irrational fear of falling asleep. -- idea: Tim surrering from somniphobia due to PTSD developed through a traumatizing moment that he experienced as a child. It is often misunderstood for or misdiagnosed as insomnia. But Tim knows the truth, for he sees it flash in the darkness behind his eyes every night.

“Batgirl on your six. He has a gun.” 

Tim smiles as he watches Stephanie flip out of the thug’s range of fire, throwing a batarang expertly and hitting his wrist. The gun drops from his hand as he cries out in pain and then Stephanie is on him. He doesn’t last two seconds. 

Afterword, Stephanie stands hardly out of breath but smiling in the success of thwarting a robbery. 

“Looks like the only thing you were successful in robbing tonight was your- your freedom?….Shoot.” Steph sighs at the thug’s confused mumbling through the gag. “I’m still bad at these one-liners. How does Nightwing do it all the time?”

“He’s had more practice than you, you’ll get there.” Tim says, hoping the static of their comm line hid the amusement in his voice. From the look she shoots at the traffic camera above her, he doesn’t think so. 

“You should get out of there,” He says, noticing flashing lights flying past a security camera only a few blocks west of her. “Police inbound.” 

She makes it onto the roof tops with plenty of time to spare. Tim tracks her movements through both hacked and planted cameras, feeling envious as she glides from building to building. He’s itching to be out there with her.

“Anything else on the radar for tonight?” She asks, voice trailing off into a yawn. Tim searches but doesn’t see anything worth their attention. After checking the time he understands why. Sunrise is less than an hour away. 

“Nah,” He says, sending an anonymous recording to 911 alerting them of a store break in happening. It’s only one man and Gotham’s police force has more than enough bodies on duty tonight to handle it, thanks to Batgirl’s hard work. “Go home and get some rest.”

“I plan on it but ,” Her voice darkens into a more dangerous tone. “We had a deal. I let you work with me tonight as long as you clocked out when I did.” 

“I know,” Tim groans. “I’m a man of my word...unfortunately.”

“You need sleep, Tim.” She says softly. “You remember the reason you were benched in the first place.”

“Yeah…” He had passed out from exhaustion during patrol last week. And, to make matters worse, he was perched on top of a tall building when it happened. If Jason hadn’t caught him, the fall would’ve killed him instantly. 

The look on Bruce’s face when he woke up back in the cave’s infirmary made his chest ache. He hated disappointing him, and hated being told that he was banned from both his Red Robin and WE duties even more. 

Even so, he tried his best to listen to Bruce’s orders, knowing logically that he was right in Tim needing his sleep in order to be able to perform adequately. In theory, resting should have been the simplest order Bruce had ever given him, but theory didn’t count for what went on in Tim’s mind when he lay in his bed. 

Whenever he closed his eyes it seemed as though the silence grew, the darkness more sinister, and worst of all, the fact that he was alone became aggressively apparent. Alone like when he woke up in the cell. Alone like he was for months, at first confident that Bruce would find him, then hoping, until finally there was only the desperate need not to be by himself anymore. 

He never told anyone about the dreams he had during his captivity. They started maybe three months in, and continued every single night from then on. Dreams of him finally being rescued, coming home and being welcomed back by his family and friends. Of taking back Red Robin mantle and working at Wayne Enterprises. Of being out in the sunlight, breathing in fresh air. 

And then he would wake up in the cell again, with no other company but his own fractured mind. He was terrified of falling asleep, only to wake up back in the prison and realize all of this was just a dream. Even though he had been out nearly a month and knew this was the real thing, he couldn’t slow his rapid heart beat everytime he closed his eyes. 

Tonight was no different. True to his word, he did head straight for his room in the penthouse after bidding Stephanie goodnight. He had moved here after the first week of being benched. As much as he hated being by himself, being around Bruce and Damian was somehow worse. Especially when he knew they were getting ready for patrol each night while he was stuck in the manor.

He tossed and turned for the first half hour before finally settling. feeling the heavy weight of sleep start to overcome him. 

Not seconds later, he’s flinging the covers off and jumping out of bed. He ends up across the room, leaning against the wall, panting as he stares at his bed in irrational terror.  

A noise of frustration escapes him before he slides down to the ground. He stays there, blinking slow, staring at nothing in particular as the room gradually brightens with the morning light. He’s not sure how long passes before his ringtone startles him out of his daze. 

It takes more effort than it should to stand, his limbs stiff from lack of movement and shivering even though he knows he has the thermostat set to seventy-five degrees. 

“Hello?”   
  
“Hey Timbolina!”

“Jason?” Tim frowns. Jason was supposed to be traveling back from an undercover mission in Amsterdam today. “I thought your flight didn’t get here until noon.”

A pause then, “It’s past noon, Tim.”

“Oh,” A quiet giggle flies past his lips, but he’s not sure what exactly he had found funny. He hears Jason take a deep breath on the other line. 

“Anyway, I was just calling to see if you wanted to come over for a little bit. I’m picking up stuff to make tacos on my way home and it’s boring to just cook for myself. And we both know a strong wind would knock you over these days.” Jason laughs. 

Tim rolls his eyes and smiles, even though Jason can’t see it. He’s always appreciated Jason’s brutal honesty, especially now when everyone else had been treating him like he’s made of glass. 

“Okay,” He says, running a hand through his hair and wincing when he feels how greasy it is. “Let me just shower first and then I’ll head over.” 

Jason’s tacos are the most amazing thing in the entire universe, Tim decides after only his second bite. It gets bumped down to second best whenever he tells Jason as much, who breaks eye contact with Tim as his ears and cheeks darken in a blush.

His vision starts to blur in the middle of his third taco and he watches with a feeling of detachment as the food slips from his hands back onto his plate. He sways, hearing Jason cuss as he tips out of his seat, but strong arms catch him before he hits the floor. 

He startles when he realizes he’s being placed on a bed, Jason’s bed. He tries to sit up but hands settle on his shoulders, pushing him back down. 

“Stop it.” His words are directed at himself, at the darkness that’s starting to curl around the edges of his vision, but Jason’s restrictive hold falls away instantly.

“You need to sleep.” Jason settles on the edge of the bed. His expression as he looks at Tim is pinched in worry. Tim hates it.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” 

Tim hesitates. He could make up another lie, similar to the ones had he told everyone else in response to their questions. But this was Jason, and not only would Jason be quick to call him on the lies, but he would be the least likely to judge his illogical fears. Plus, if he was talking, then the chances of him falling asleep lowered. 

So he talks, and Jason listens. He tells Jason about the loneliness, the dreams, and even confesses to questioning reality at times, something he had barely begun to admit to himself. As he speaks, something loosens in his chest, allowing him to breathe easier by the time he’s finished. 

When Tim stops speaking, Jason stays silent for a few moments, considering Tim. Tim knows he’s given him a lot to take in and tries to be patient as he waits.

“I think I know what might help you.” He finally says, almost sounding hesitant.

“You do?” Tim leans forward eagerly. “What is it?”   
  


“The main problem is the fear of waking up alone right?” He asks, continuing after Tim’s nod. “Well what if you were positive that you weren’t going to wake up alone?” 

“How would I do that?” 

“By not being alone when you go to sleep,” Jason shrugs. He seems very interested in smoothing out the wrinkles in the bedsheets afterword. It takes him a moment, but Tim finally gets what Jason’s implying.

“You’re offering to sleep next to me?” He asks, his face growing hot. 

“Well not sleep, because it’s the middle of the day. But I’d just be there. I have some reading to catch up on anyway.”

“Oh that’s...considerate of you.” Tim says, relaxing back against the pillows.

“Considerate is my middle name.” Jason eyeballs the pillow next to Tim’s as if it’s an enemy he’s trying to figure out how to take down. 

“Thought your middle name was motherfucking.” Tim grins when Jason laughs, delighted. And just like that the tension is gone. Jason crawls under the covers next to Tim, shimmying around until he’s comfortable. They both tense, but then relax into it when their arms brush.

Jason’s radiates a lot of heat, Tim realises, happily pressing his feet up against Jason’s calves. Jason gives him an unamused look.

“Go to sleep, Tim.”

 And finally, finally Tim does.


	11. Jason and Tim kidnapped by Joker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anon asked:  
> Hey, if you don't mind or if you have some free time to write something would you mind writing a little something with Jason doing whatever he can to protect Tim? Like, they were taken by the Joker and whenever Joker gets close to Tim Jason starts provoking him until Joker turns his attention to Jason and takes out his frustration on him? Thank you so much, I hope you have a great day!

It’s the pain that wakes him up. The sharp heat that flares out in his rib cage when he inhales, the dull ache in his right femur, and the throbbing in his skull. He’s tied, arms chained high above his head, forcing him to stand on his tiptoes to try to get the circulation back in his hands. It does nothing to help the pain. 

He opens his eyes, trying and failing to keep down the hiss of pain when the light causes the pain in his head to worsen. It’s almost not worth it, when his eyes adjust and he finds himself staring at a grey brick wall. 

“You awake?” Jason’s voice comes from somewhere to his right. Tim delicately twists his head in that direction, mindful of his injuries and finds Jason tied up in the same way he is. His helm is off, leaving him only in the red domino he wears underneath, and it all of his weapons holsters are gone. Tim notices then that he feels significantly lighter and figures whoever took them must have taken his weapons as well.

“Unfortunately,” Tim groans. “Are you alright?”   
  


“Just peachy. You?”

“Feels like I’ve been hit by a truck.” Tim admits, laughing quietly.

“Tim…” Jason frowns at him. “You were.”

Tim blinks. “What?”

“We were stopping a bank robbery on thirty-second street. Oracle got a tip that Joker was involved and called us in since B and the brat won’t be back in town until later today.” Jason scoffs. “But yeah, you were fighting some of his guys when Joker drove a truck through the building. You stopped to push a civilian out of the way and didn’t move in time.”

“Well that explains why my...everything hurts,” Tim tries to recall what Jason’s telling him but it only makes his skull throb. “How did they get you?”   
  


“Joker held a gun to your head, I couldn’t get a good shot on him without the risk of hitting you so I surrendered.”

“Oh,” Tim winces. “Sorry.” 

“What the hell are you sorry for?”

Tim opens his mouth to answer but closes it, tensing when he hears a door behind them opening. 

“Hello boys! Are we comfortable? I know I don’t have a five star resort set up here.” The apology in Joker’s voice sounds almost sincere. 

Jason and Tim both remain silent, not wanting to humor him. Tim can see Jason out of the corner of his eye, muscles getting tighter with tension with each step closer to them Joker gets, and has to bite back a second apology. He hates being the reason Jason has to be in this situation again. 

Joker takes his time approaching them, wandering around the room in a slow playful gait until he stands in front of them. He sighs, tapping a finger against his chin as he considers them. 

“Not in a talking mood, are we?” He shakes his head in disappointment. “That’s too bad, because I really need to know how you found out about the robbery.” 

For a moment no one moves or speaks. The only sound Tim can hear is his heart, erratically beating in his chest. Joker’s expression gets angrier with each passing second until it borders on furious and then, all at once, it twists into a smile.

“I’d hate to have to hurt you.” He all but purrs. 

“Yeah, we all know you’re usually a pacifist.” Tim blurts before he can help himself. He isn’t surprised by the backhand, but it’s stunning how much it disorients him. His vision swims and he can’t help the grunt of pain that escapes him  He can hear Jason cursing, but it sounds far away.

“I see you’re little meeting with my truck went about as well as I’d hoped.” Joker cackles. “Ah, good times.” Tim’s vision stops swimming just in time to see him pull a knife out of an inner pocket in his jacket. 

“You’ve got to be the laziest villain,” Jason scoffs from beside Tim. “You realize you’re the only person we’ve fought that hides behind thugs and armored vehicles until we’re tied up. It’s like you’re asking to be the laughing stock of the crime world.”

Tim frowns at Jason, wondering why he’s suddenly in a talkative mood now that Joker has a sharp weapon in his hand. He looks back at Joker to see him considering Jason, before he turns back to Tim, as if he decided that Jason isn’t worth his attention.

Tim forces himself to keep his breathing even as Joker moves closer to him, lowering the knife until it’s resting just above his knee.

“How did you know I was hitting the bank today?” 

“Lucky guess.” Tim smirks, bracing himself. There’s a sharp pressure digging, almost piercing his skin before-

“I told him.” Jason once again has both of their attention, and is the subject of Tim’s frown. He realizes too late, as Joker steps away from him, what Jason’s planning.

‘ _ Idiot _ ,’ He thinks, but what he says is, “No, I hacked into one of your henchmen’s cellphone. I was able to hear all of the phone calls planning this out.”

Joker laughs, loud and hideous, pocketing the knife just so he can clap his hands together. 

“Oh that is just darling!” He says, wiping his eyes. “You know you don’t have to compete for my attention though right? I’ll get to you both before the night is over. However,” His voice lowers into a growl as he glares at Jason. “I remember you trying to shoot me once.”

“It was more than once,” Jason smirks, and that seems to push the limits of Joker’s patience, because the next second he’s on Jason, punching him repeatedly while Jason can’t hit back, like the coward he is. 

Tim uses Joker’s distraction to his advantage, leaning as far away from Joker as he can. Once he reaches the end of the chains slack, he jumps and kicks is legs out, swinging toward Joker. He reaches him, just barely, his heel slamming into the back of Joker’s knee and sending him to the ground. 

His shoulder gives an audible pop just before he lands, causing his vision to white out in pain. When it clears and he’s left gasping, he sees Joker still on his knees, eyes bulging while Jason, Tim nearly laughs hysterically, is lifting himself on the chains similar to how Tim was, and is using his extra height to wrap his legs around Joker’s neck, choking him with his thighs. 

“Don’t kill him,” Tim warns after Joker goes limp in Jason’s hold. Jason, face bruised and bloody, rolls his eyes at him but drops Joker. 

“I don’t suppose you know a way out of these chains do you?” He asks.

“I have a lockpick in my glove, but I think I just dislocated my shoulder so I can’t exactly get to it.” Tim coughs, grimacing when his mouth is filled with the taste of copper.

The door opens again then, and Tim dizzily watches as Jason turns to look before scowling. “You’d think one of these days you’d actually show up on time, B.”

****

Tim is benched for two months, on Bruce’s orders, to make sure he is completely recovered before he can patrol again. He expects to be bored, miserable with the extra free time he has but, surprisingly, Jason keeps him company. 

He brings movies and video games to keep them entertained, making himself at home next to Tim on his bed. It’s during these times that Tim learns the annoying, endearing way Jason can’t seem to keep quiet during a whole movie. He learns that Jason absolutely terrible at video games, and is the type of person that button mashes in order to win.

It’s strange for Tim, to go from being completely unsure of where he stands with someone, to spending time with them everyday like they’re old friends. He tells Jason as much feeling light,  happy even, after three donuts and four minutes of giggling at Jason making fun of the pep talk Smaug gives himself at the end of An Unexpected Journey. He’s surprised when, instead of agreeing with him, Jason frowns at him for a moment before laughing. 

“That’s hilarious,” He chuckles, shaking his head.

“What is?” 

“That you think we’re just friends.”


	12. Asexual Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous request from Tumblr for an Asexual Tim

“You could try being a little less obvious.”

“What?” Tim asks, frowning at Stephanie’s voice. When he looks over at her, she’s giving him her classic ‘I’m judging you so hard right now’ expression. It’s one he knows well, but this time he doesn’t feel as if he’s earned it.

“You’ve been staring at Jason’s ass like it’s Valhalla for the past two minutes.”

Tim gapes at her because, what? He whips his head back around to look at the object he had be staring at and-oh.

“I wasn’t looking at his-” Tim sighs. “He has a blood stain on the back of his right thigh from when he was tangled in Ivy’s vines earlier. It’s shaped like a face!”

“Sure,” Stephanie’s drawls, a grin forming on her lips.

“He does!” Tim says loudly, and points without thinking. “It’s right there!”

“What’s where?” Jason calls from across the cave, having noticed the attention on him. He had turned to face them, briefly glancing down at his body before his attention focuses on Tim’s pointed finger. Tim lowers his hand hastily, trying to think of an excuse, but Stephanie beats him to it.

“A damn fine booty!” Tim sputters at her answer but Jason doesn’t seem surprised. He throws his head back in a laugh that echoes through the cave and leaves Tim’s ears ringing, before turning back to continue arguing with Bruce.

It’s not an intense argument, not the kind that left Bruce brooding for days and Jason leaving the cave radiating anger and hurt. It was more like bickering, the kind they both didn’t want to admit they enjoyed. Tim breathes a sigh of relief, giving Stephanie and her smug expression a sharp look before letting the subject go.

Later, Tim approaches Jason as he’s getting on his motorcycle, about to head home for the night. He feels the need to explain things for some reason.

“You’ve got a blood stain on the back of your thigh.”

“Aww, I just bought these too,” Jason groans, twisting around to see. “Hey, it looks kinda like a face!”

“See?” Tim exclaims. “I tried to tell Stephanie, but she thought I was looking at your...uh,” He trails off, suddenly unsure.

“My damn fine ass?” Jason’s left brow arches higher than the other. “I kinda figured you weren’t actually talking about it.” He shrugs. “Are we still on for the movies on Saturday?”

Tim blinks at the sudden change in subject, but answers anyway. “Marathoning Harry Potter at the drive-in? I wouldn’t miss it.”

It becomes apparent sometime later, that Stephanie isn’t going to let it go as easily as Jason had. She mentions it in passing nearly every time they’re alone together. They’re sitting on Tim’s bed, deciding on which earrings go best with the dress she’s wearing on her date with Cass, when she brings it up for the third time in a week and Tim finally loses his patience.

“Why are you so obsessed with the idea that I have a crush on Jason?” He snaps.

“Because you do. You’ve been fawning over him for like six months now.” She states, holding sapphires up next to her ears. “What about these?”

“I liked the diamonds better,” He says before he fully registers her first words. “Wait six months?” Confusion overrides his irritation because the blood stain incident was only a few weeks ago.

“Yeah ever since you guys got back from the undercover mission in Hong Kong and decided to trade your constant fighting for nerdy references and movie nights.” She tosses the sapphires back in the box and picks up the diamonds again.  “You talk about him all the time, smile way too much and always stand within touching distance of him when he’s around. It wasn’t that hard to pick up on.”

“I…” He hesitates, thinking about his time with Jason.

Being in Hong Kong with him for over a month, sharing that cramped hotel room with nothing but each other’s company had changed their relationship. Being forced together made them realize how well they worked together, and how much they actually had in common. Now movie nights with Jason were something he always looked forward to, especially when he was having a rough week. And, if he did smile too much around Jason, that was because Jason was funny, and understood his jokes, and-

“Maybe,” Tim finally says, flushing at Stephanie’s knowing stare. “But there really was a bloodstain!”

“Tim, you just admitted you had a crush on him. You can admit to appreciating his sexy bod too.”

“I don’t think he’s sexy!” Tim lowers his voice after Stephanie gives him a surprised look. “I don’t think he’s ugly either. He’s just...Jason.” He finishes lamely, shrugging.

“Oh,” She frowns. “Maybe you guys are just really good friends, then.”

“Either I think he’s sexy, or we’re just friends. Those are my only two options?”

“Well yeah, I mean part of being with someone is enjoying the way they look physically.” She says, as if it’s simple. “Weren’t you attracted to me when we were together?”

“Steph, you’re gorgeous.” Tim says honestly, but Stephanie notices the pause before he speaks and the nervousness in his eyes.

Her face crumbles in hurt before twisting in anger and she’s gathering her things while Tim flounders with a way to do damage control. But she slams the door while Tim is still stuttering, leaving him behind in her quiet rage.

Tim smashes a pillow against his face, screaming several words into that would make Alfred want to wash his mouth with soap.

His night doesn’t get any better after that. He has to make an appearance at a gala Bruce was supposed to be hosting but can’t because he’s finishing up a big case. So he spends what would have been a much needed night of rest charming Gotham’s upper class.

Jason shows up halfway through to keep him company, introducing himself as Jack Twist in order to try to make Tim break face and laugh. Eventually, they find themselves on a balcony by themselves, splitting a glass of champagne and watching the crowd from a safe distance. There, Tim finally starts to relax, which is why he’s so thrown off when Jason speaks again.

“What are we?” Jason blurts after finishing the last swig of their drink.

“I don’t understand the question.” Tim frowns, nerves starting to rise again at the seriousness of Jason’s expression.

“I mean, we just kinda went from hating each other to hanging out all the time. And, we never really talked about it, so I was just wondering if we were like, friends or…”

“I never hated you. But uh,” Tim hesitates, the memory of his conversation with Stephanie still fresh in his mind. “Y-Yeah. Friends. We’re just friends.” Even though it’s the truth, saying it causes a pressure to form in his chest.

Jason’s facial expression doesn’t change, the only movement being a slight twitch in the cheek under his eye.

“Friends.” He says lowly. “Awesome.”

Tim’s chest continues to ache after Jason suddenly remembers he had plans. He thinks it must be the champagne giving him heartburn. It’s really the only answer that makes sense.

Tim wakes up slowly on his own, unable to figure out why he didn’t just stay asleep. When he opens his eyes Stephanie is laying next to him, looking right back at him.

“Cass says I’m an idiot.” She says when Tim is finished screaming and scrambling away from her, almost falling onto the floor.

“I’m sure she didn’t use those words,” He pants, clutching at his chest. “What are you doing here?”

“To apologize.”

“For what?”   
  
“Being a jackass.”

“I think you’re remembering our conversation a little differently than I do.”

“I remember confusing your feelings and overreacting.” She says, hurrying to continue when he opens his mouth to argue. “Look just read this okay. Cass showed this to me after I told her what happened.”  She gets out her phone and unlocks it, an article already pulled up as she hands it over to Tim.

“Asexuality?” Tim asks after reading the title. He glances up at her, seeing her wave her hand impatiently for him to continue, and turns his attention back to the article at hand.

Several minutes later, he quietly hands her phone back to her, mind still processing the information he just read. Stephanie, bless her, stays silent as he gathers his thoughts.

“I’m asexual.” He finally says. The statement makes him feel centered somehow. The ache from his conversation with Jason earlier hasn’t gone away yet, but the stress and worry ease slightly. “How did Cass know?”

“She’s ace too. Apparently I’m an ace magnet.” Stephanie snorts when Tim rolls his eyes before getting serious again. “She also said romantic feelings and sexual attraction don’t always coincide, so…”

“I think I need to go talk to Jason.” Tim grins.

“Tim it’s five in the morning, someone had better be-”

“I like you.” Tim blurts , steeling himself with Jason’s expression goes from grumpy to shocked, mouth popping open to form an ‘o’.

He keeps speaking before he loses his courage, telling Jason every reason he can think of why he likes him. Tim doesn’t mention anything about Jason’s physical appearance, but eventually Jason chooses to stare at their feet instead of at Tim, his face progressively getting redder as time goes on, and Tim’s pretty sure he’s gets his point across anyway.

And when Tim is finished speaking and Jason starts mumbling about his own feelings toward Tim, Tim smiles, feeling something resembling peace taking over his mind as he listens.


	13. Outsiders AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anon request on tumblr asked for Outsiders AU w/ Social! Tim and Greaser! Jason.  
> TW: Brief description of violence at the beginning when Jason remembers his friend nearly getting killed.

The steady beeping and occasional whirring of medical machinery are the only sounds that fill the room. It’s been twenty-four hours since the fight, since Roy was stabbed three times in the stomach, since Jason’s best friend had started fighting for his life. The rest of their friends had left long ago, relying on Jason to keep them posted if there were any changes. 

While most of the night is stuck in a panicked haze, Jason vividly remembers things like the expression on Roy’s face just before he lost consciousness. He remembers the blood draining away from Roy’s skin and how wide his eyes were despite his pinpoint pupils. He remembers how scared Roy was, can still hear his shaky breaths ghosting over words that Jason couldn’t understand.

There’s still blood on his hands and clothes, Jason realizes suddenly. It’s probably spread to his face and hair by now, with how often he’s been nervously scrubbing his hands across his scalp. He’s surprised the nurses haven’t kicked him out yet. Maybe they feel sorry for him.

A knock on the door startles him, his whole body jerking with the force of his jump. As soon as he notices who it is, he’s on his feet, hurrying to get in between Roy and the intruder. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” He snarls, moving right up into Drake’s face. He uses his height as an added intimidation factor, widening his stance so he’s towering over Drake, making sure he’s unable to see Roy’s struggle in the hospital bed behind them.

Drake doesn’t back down, standing there looking incredibly out of place in his designer jeans and letterman jacket, but he also doesn’t try to challenge Jason either. Jason knows it isn’t fear that encourages Drake’s lack of aggression because he’s seen the other boy fight, been up against him in a fight, even. 

Drake may be small, so small that Jason didn’t take him seriously at first. But then Drake would strike, hitting his opponents with coordinated attacks meant not only to hurt, but to disable. Jason had never seen someone fight so elegantly before. Drake was different from anyone else he had ever met, which was probably why he didn’t apply more force into getting him to leave. His curiosity always led to questionable decisions. . 

“I just wanted to see how he was doing.” Drake’s voice is softer than Jason has ever heard it. It sounds hollow and tired, something Jason can relate to, but he still has so many questions. 

What’s a Soc doing. risking being seen next to a Greaser, without trying to fight him? He even has a vase filled with colorful flowers in his hands Jason notices, real ones, the kind Jason wouldn’t be able to afford.

“Why?” Jason loses some of his aggression when Drake doesn’t immediately go on the offensive. He hasn’t slept for a full day and a half so he needs to conserve his energy. 

“I saw Bob stab Harper.” Drake finally says, surprising Jason when his lip curls in disgust around Bob’s name. “He’s trying to tell everyone he thought your boy was gonna pull a weapon first, but I saw them, Jason. Roy was fighting fair and square, and Bob just-” Tim chokes on his words, dropping his gaze away from Jason’s. 

“You Socials aren’t exactly known for your integrity.” Jason scoffs. 

“I’m sorry.” Drake whispers, keeping his head bowed and-fuck, Jason isn’t emotionally stable enough to handle someone else’s guilt right now. 

“You’re not the one who pulled the knife,” Jason says, stepping away to let Drake through. “You can leave the flowers on the nightstand next to his bed, I guess.”

He sits down, watching as Drake hesitates briefly before he enters the room. After that, his movements are confident as he makes his way to Roy’s bed side. He places the flowers on the nightstand, adjusting them an inch or so until it sits perfectly in the center. Then, he turns his attention to Roy.

Jason doesn’t watch for the expression on Drake’s face, doesn’t want to know what it’s going to be, but he does keep an eye on Drake’s hands as he stands in front of him. For all he knows, Drake could be here to finish Bob’s job, and there was no way Jason was going to let his guard down around a Soc. Eventually though, Drake comes to sit in the chair next to Jason. 

“Is he going to be okay?” He asks. 

“I don’t know.” Jason sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Doctors won’t tell me shit.” 

“That could be a good thing.” Drake says after a pause. He sounds like he believes the statement as much as Jason does. 

Their legs are almost touching so Jason shifts to ensure it doesn’t actually happen, but not before he notices how strange they look next to each other. Drake’s jeans are light, tight on his skin with not a seam out of place. Jason’s next to him are still caked with blood and dirt from the fight, there are holes at his knees and strings of worn fabric hanging at his feet.

“Your friends as gonna be mad as hell if they find out you came to visit.” Jason says suddenly.

“Are you planning on telling on me?” Drake asks, eyeing him with a smirk. “I doubt your friends will be very happy about you letting me in here while you and Harper are vulnerable.”

“Are you trying to be threatening?” Jason snorts. “Because I hate to break it to you, but you aren’t what I’d call intimidating.”

“Oh, I could be down right vicious if I wanted to.” Drake says, the playful smile doing odd things to Jason, making him hot all over and twitchy. Maybe he is too vulnerable to be dealing with Drake right now.

“Mutually assured destruction, then. I won’t tell anyone you came in here, bawling like a baby, and you don’t tell anyone I was kind enough to let you out of the very public hallway so no one would see your tears.” Jason says, lips twitching at Drake’s very dramatic eye roll. 

In the comfortable silence that follows, Jason’s surprised to find that he’s actually a little thankful that Drake is here. Having someone else in the room makes the weight that has been resting in Jason’s chest since the ambulance ride the slightest bit more bearable. He’s not sure if it’s because of who he’s sitting beside, or just because he isn’t so alone anymore. He hopes it’s the latter. 

“You’re not how I expected you’d be.” Drake says, startling him from his thoughts.

“What do you mean?” Jason frowns. 

“I mean, every time I’ve seen you around town you’re always scowling, and you don’t seem to know how to pick an outfit without some sort of leather included. You just look like trouble.”

“Maybe I’m scowling because I noticed you first and don’t want to deal with a Soc.” Jason teases. “And I look damn fine in leather, don’t deny it.”

“Wasn’t going to.” Drake grins at him, an expression that makes his eyes squint and cheeks puff up. An expression that shouldn’t be described at adorable, even though that’s what Jason’s mind automatically catalogues it as. 

“What is it?” Drake asks, the moment after Jason realizes that maybe he’s been staring too long.

“Nothing,” He says quickly. “It’s just...you’re not what I was expecting either.”


	14. First Impressions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a request but something I did for Generatorcat's birthday I wanted to share on here as well :)

Jason Todd is a hot-headed asshole, Tim had decided many months ago, about two minutes after meeting him. It's just a fact, one that isn't going to change, so he accepts it and plans on avoiding his predecessor as much as possible. 

A plan that's completely wrecked when he ends up stranded on a roof in the middle of Red Hood’s territory, injured from an earlier fight with Bane. It's nothing too extreme, just a dislocated shoulder and a couple of possibly cracked ribs on his left side. He had won the fight, which was the important part. 

His mistake was waiting for the authorities to come arrest Bane before he started his route back to the cave. It allowed time for the adrenaline of the fight to wear off and, even with the risky shortcut he started to take through Red Hood’s part of town, he still collapses before he makes it five blocks away from the warehouse he had fought Bane in. 

He has his communicator out, sucking up the courage to make the humiliating call to Batman and Robin that he needs help, when the heavy thud of feet landing on the roof behind him cause his body to go wire-tight.

“Looks like you came to the wrong side of town, Replacement.” Red Hood’s voice is as nonchalant as his stride as he makes his way closer and closer to Tim’s resting place. “I made my warning loud and clear about what would happen if I caught someone from the bat-clan in my area again.” 

The threat gets Tim moving, or at least he tries to. He gets halfway out of a sitting position before his vision goes white in pain and he has to slump back down against the wall. 

“Wait a second,” Tim’s heart thumps in rhythm with Jason’s quickened footsteps as the distance between them shortens too fast for Tim’s liking. “Are you actually hurt?” 

“Umm,” Tim’s surprised to find himself even more freaked out than before when, instead of maiming him, Red Hood presses a gentle hand over the arm that Tim is holding protectively over his ribs. “It's not that bad, I just need to get back to the cave or the penthouse to patch myself up.”

“That's halfway across town,” Red Hood snaps, pulling Tim to his feet in gentle, slow movements, pausing every time Tim indicates even a slight amount of pain. “My place is a few buildings away. We’ll go there, patch you up, and then pretend this never happened. Capiche?” 

And Tim’s too busy trying not to throw up to argue. 

The things is, Tim thinks as he watches carefully wrap the sprained wrist he didn't even know he had, if Jason Todd was actually a hot-headed asshole, he wouldn't even be here. 

Sitting on Jason’s couch, in Jason’s many sizes too big sweats and t-shirt, feeling absolutely safe even as the painkillers coax him into a vulnerable sleepiness. 

So there must be something more, something new to discover about this Jason who is different from the Robin Tim adored, and different from the mess that came after him fresh out of the Lazarus pit.

The next morning when Tim wakes up in his own bed, he thinks of how Jason kneeled on the ground next to him as he took care of Tim’s wounds. The way his lips pouted in a frown when he realized just the extent of Tim’s injuries; the way he looked up at Tim through his eyelashes when he was scolding Tim to call for backup next time. That man was a stranger Tim had never seen before, a man Tim wouldn’t mind getting to know a little better in time. 

***

Tim Drake is a boring stuck-up nerd, Jason decides as he goes through the photographs of his replacement. He hasn't even met the guy yet and he can already tell just through images that the pretender’s idea of a good time is analyzing case files and kissing Batman’s ass.

Which is why it comes as a surprise to him when, not that long after he specifically told Tim to forget about their brief moment of peace, Tim shows up at his doorstep. 

“What,” Jason says grouchily. He made the mistake of taking a nap in the middle day and woke up feeling a thousand times worse. 

“Well hello to you too,” Tim rolls his eyes. “I need you to help me with something.”

“Are you telling me or asking me?”

“Bribing,” Tim lifts up the bag he's holding. “I brought donuts.” 

***

“Why can't you just ask Batman, or one of the titans, or literally anyone except me for help?” 

They're facing each other on the mats in Jason’s exercise room. He’s discovered, after practicing two new takedown maneuvers with Tim, that maybe it was a bad idea to eat the donuts before sparring. Damn those jelly filled delights. 

“Because I've already trained with them a hundred times,” Tim shrugs one shoulder. Jason isn't quite sure if it's a gesture to emphasize his sentence, or if he's just trying to get his shirt back in the correct place over his shoulder. He had borrowed Jason's clothes...again. “If I want to keep from being predictable I need new moves every once in a while, and you don't fight like anyone else I've ever seen.” 

“Careful there,” Jason finds his lips parting in a smile. “That one almost sounded like a compliment.”

“I meant it to be,” Tim smiles with a grin full of mischief. Which is not something a boring nerd should ever be capable of. Jason's stomach and heart swap places as he finds himself unable to come up with a witty reply for perhaps the first time in his life. 

The thing that really gets him is that it's not a fluke. It's like that brief flirtatious sentence was all Jason needed to open his eyes to the fact that Tim was so much more than what he originally thought. 

He wasn't a suck-up, was actually very far from it. It was obvious he adored Bruce, but he would often go against Batman’s wishes, and have fun doing it. 

He wasn't boring, in fact he made an easy habit of making Jason laugh, and laugh often. His sarcastic humor matching with Jason’s brilliantly until they had their own army of inside jokes. 

And then there was the flirting. 

Jason honestly had no clue what to do with the flirting. Being a flirt clearly wasn't one of Tim’s personality traits like it was with Dick. His lines were lame at times and cheesy at best. But he never went any further than that, never seemed to want anything other than carefree exchanges.

Which sent Jason reeling. Because he couldn't help reacting every time Tim would flirt with him, leaving with a scarlet face and stuttered reply. He liked the attention, but couldn't tell if he was being played with. It left him completely unbalanced. 

He finally breaks way too long after he's due, whispering something that's both a challenge and a plea; a desperate, “ _ Kiss me,” _ to Tim, who is standing much too close. 

He's terrified, but it's nothing compared to how he's felt these past few months, unsure of where he stood with Tim. 

And it's nothing compared to how he feels when Tim responds, kissing Jason like he’s afraid Jason will disappear if he stops. 

***

“Dick says he's happy we’re starting to get along better,” Jason remembers later, licking his now chapped lips. The last word comes out in a little gasp, the combination of their kissing session and Tim’s weight pressing against his torso making it a little difficult to breathe. “He says he thinks we’re going to become really good friends.” 

Tim’s grin comes on slow and is as just as wild as he is. 


	15. Arkham Knight/Red Robin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arkham Knight/Red Robin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a request fill for exiled-one on tumblr who wanted Arkham Knight/ Red Robin and a combo of post Arkham verse with what happened in the RR comics after Tim gets back to Gotham. Hope you all enjoy! :)

“You could just let me go,” Jason says, wincing after an experimental tug on the cuffs sends a flare of pain through his entire torso.

“Maybe someday,”  Red Robin says absentmindedly. His attention is more focused on wrapping Jason’s ankle. Or rather, trying to wrap Jason’s ankle, and doing a very poor job of it. Jason’s positive the medic he has on staff would do a better job patching him up, but of course he can’t tell Red this.

Because right now Red thinks he’s only working for the Arkham Knight and not actually the Arkham Knight himself. Jason plans to keep it that way until he isn’t handcuffed, injured, and at the mercy of the newest masked crazy to visit Gotham.

The masked crazy who had found Jason half conscious, buried under rubble after a failed assassination attempt, wearing the Arkham Knight’s colors minus the helm which had been destroyed in the explosion, and for whatever reason, had decided to help Jason instead of leaving him for the authorities.

Although, Red Robin had been the reason Jason was nearly blown up in the first place. Jason had been too busy trying to escape what he thought was imminent death at the time, but he distinctly remembers the assassin calling Jason Red Robin, until Red Robin himself had actually shown up, that is.

“Wanna tell me what you did to put yourself on a hit list?” Jason asks.

“Want to tell me your name?” Red moves his attention up to a shallow gash along Jason’s thigh and he’s reminded of just how vulnerable he is in just his boxers and red mask.

Jason bites his cheek to avoid making a noise as disinfectant pours over the cut. “Tell me where we are.”

Red doesn’t answer him right away, and it’s infuriating. Infuriating how calm and arrogant he can be about all this, like he’s justified in kidnapping Jason and playing nurse with him. Even more infuriating how Red doesn’t seem to want to look at him directly. They wouldn’t even have to make real eye contact, what with Red’s cowl and Jason’s mask in the way.

Red seems happy to keep the silence but Jason doesn’t really give a crap what he wants. He shifts his knee up fast once Red gets close again. His hit lands, but he hadn’t been able to put as much force as he had wanted to. Still, Red’s put out sigh as he looks to where the medical supplies dropped is like music to Jason’s ears.

But then he’s leaning away to grab them and still not looking at Jason. His voice carries clear and cold though when he says, “Why did you freak out when I tried to take that bandage off your cheek?”

“Fuck you,” Jason says against the sudden pierce of panic in his chest at the scar from his time with the Joker. He kept it on always unless he was sleeping, more to hide it from himself than from others. But that wasn’t any of Red’s business. “Why is your costume and gear so similar to Batman’s?”

The question slips out before he can think to stop it, and he doesn’t even have it in him to be disappointed in himself for not taking a smarter approach. When he originally noticed the similarities he had quietly catalogued it in the back of his mind to save for when he had more information. It would have been logical not to give away too much, but Jason’s logic often gets swept away by the roaring rush of emotions he can never seem to get under control.

And now, now Red is looking at him, making Jason regret wanting his undivided attention in the first place. He can feel Red’s stare even from behind the cowl, searching for answers and clues, like a true bat. Jason’s face remains impassive, not letting Red in and not letting any information out. A twitch of his lips could make him seem too cocky, and uneven breath could be seen as nervousness.

Red’s lips curve into a smirk that Jason doesn’t like at all, and he places a hand over his injured ankle with deceptive gentleness. “Tell me what all did you do while working under the Arkham Knight.”

Jason would give another question in response but he can tell Red is done letting him play around. “I was an officer.”

“So you were kept up to date on most of his plans then?” Red taps a beat on Jason’s ankle with his index finger.

“I guess so,” Jason lies cautiously.

“And you know where his headquarters is at now, yes?”

There’s a pause where they just stare at each other, neither moving an inch. When Red laughs suddenly, it startles Jason.

“We can come back to that another day,” he says, getting up and moving toward a computer with several large screens displaying information, but it’s far enough away that Jason can’t quite make it out.

“Wait, another day?” Jason tugs on his chains again. “When are you going to let me out of here?”

“Whenever I’ve made enough of a presence in Gotham for assassins to stop mistaking you for me. Or whenever you can walk on your own again. Whichever happens first.”

____________

“Hey Red,” Jason says. He waits a beat before continuing. He wasn’t expecting an immediate reply anyway. “Red Robin. Crimson Cardinal. Rotkehlchen. Robin Rojo. Rouge-”

“ _What?”_

Jason grins. “I’m bored.”

“And I’m trying to outsmart a man that’s probably several centuries old. Which of our needs do you think I should be more concerned about?”

“Umm, both? Let me help you.”

And Jason has Red’s undivided attention again. He’s gotten pretty good at getting it he thinks. Red even swivels in his chair around to face Jason fully. “You want to help me?”

“Well yeah,” Jason shrugs. “They did try to kill me. Even if they thought I was someone else, it still felt pretty freakin’ personal.”

“As nice as that is,” Red says, leaning back in his computer chair. “I don’t think you’re in a position to be offering me any help.” His attention is still on Jason though, and Jason uses that as encouragement for what he does next.

Not once looking away from Red, Jason slowly twists his wrists, letting the chains fall completely off him before he lowers his hands onto his lap. Red had made the mistake of leaving Jason unattended for a couple hours earlier after Jason had faked falling asleep. Although to be fair, Red hadn’t known that Jason had been trained by Batman himself.

Red stills almost completely besides a slight tick in the corner of his mouth and Jason doesn’t know if it means he’s going to laugh or frown.

“If you could have escaped why didn’t you?”

Jason waggles his injured ankle in answer. “I wouldn’t have made it very far. Besides, you never told me why the assassins were after you.”

Red sighs, moving his hand up to his head but stopping short once his fingers make contact with the cowl, like he had forgotten it was there. “Arkham Knight must only hire the best with his commanders, huh?”

“He does,” Jason says honestly. He waits patiently while Red decides what to do with him. It is true he could have escaped, and gone back to…what? The small group of men he had leftover. Most of his men had abandoned him after Batman’s reappearance in Gotham, along with a new, younger Robin than before and the return of all of Gotham’s police force.

It hadn’t been hard for Jason to figure out that  Dick had picked up Bruce’s cowl and taken Damian under his wing, but Jason had been curious where the other Robin had taken off to. Now he knew.

His thoughts are interrupted by another heavy sigh from Red. “Well, I guess it won’t hurt to let you take a look.”

__________

Over the next few days he gains immeasurable amounts of respect for all of the work Alfred and Barbara did for Bruce while he was Batman. He thought he knew they were a huge part of Batman’s success throughout each case but, now that he’s actually in their position, he realizes he didn’t know. At all.

It’s just so nerve wracking.

He has access to Red’s coms, the cameras attached to Red’s cowl, and any case file related to the League of Assassins or the Council of Spiders, all to help Red keep Gotham safe. It hadn’t taken much to get the Council to back off but Ra’s…Ra’s was a different matter.

“He’s a psychopathic asshole,” Jason tells Red one night, during their nightly post patrol dinner.

Tonight, they were having burgers from one of Jason’s favorite restaurants in downtown Gotham. He had mentioned them in passing the night before while watching a fight between Red and Firefly on top of a Burger King. He hadn’t thought Red was even paying much attention to his commentary at the time, but tonight Red had marched into the nest holding a bag filled with burgers and fries for them. Jason could have kissed him.

“I know that,” Red says, taking a cautious small first bite of his burger. Jason watches him chew out of the corner of his eyes and tries not to grin when Red’s second bite is much larger than his first. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

“The fact that you’re saying that proves that you don’t actually know,” Jason says, pointing at him with a fry. “I’ve known my fair share of psychos and they aren’t ever something you can just handle.”

“Like Arkham Knight?” Red tilts his head and gives Jason a small smile. “Your boss hasn’t been around lately. Maybe he’s been looking for you.”

Jason feels a rush of guilt for reasons he can’t explain, but forces himself not to dwell on it. “There are worse than the Arkham Knight, and you have a knack for pissing off dangerous people.”

“Careful there Bradbury,” Red says, using the nickname he gave him after Jason had requested some books to read in his spare time while he recovered. “You’re starting to sound like you care.”

Jason glares but decides to take another bite of his burger instead of continuing the argument.

____________

Watching Red Robin fight is an electrifying, frustrating experience.

Electrifying because Red moves like no one else Jason has ever seen before. Each attack and defend is a carefully calculated move that brings Red one step closer to victory. There are moves that show off Batman’s training, moves that scream Shiva’s name, and moves that Jason has never seen anyone but Red pull off before. It’s breathtaking, something that makes Jason not want to even blink in case he misses something.

Frustrating because Red never takes one second to think about himself. Every injury he takes on is a worthy sacrifice if it means helping to keep Bruce’s legacy safe. Long ago he had thought that Red wasn’t worthy of standing beside Bruce as Jason’s replacement. Now Jason knows that Bruce and Gotham never deserved someone like Red.

This past week Jason has watched Red, helped Red, and learned from Red as he continued the sick chess game Ra’s had started with him. But tonight, as Red leaves his friends to fight Ra’s alone, Jason isn’t watching. He knows a hopeless fight when he sees one, and Jason refuses to sit and to see it take place from behind the screen of a computer.

Jason leaves Red Robin’s nest with his gear, his guns, and a noticeable limp. He could have left days before, since Red had given him the access codes to both his door and the locker he was keeping Jason’s stuff in the day Jason started helping him, but Jason had never had a reason to leave. Until tonight.

In the end he’s almost too late. Glass shatters and Red falls along with the broken remains of the window. Jason’s ankle throbs when he sprints, his stitches pull as he swings, and his ribs protest when he catches Red, but it’s all very dull and muted compared to the relief he feels knowing Red is safe.

_____________

Tim wakes up in a sudden flurry of movement, sitting up before groaning and clutching at both his head and stomach. Jason sits in a chair beside him, full of nerves, without his mask, helm, or bandage to cover his face. He wants to talk but he can’t seem to form words so he just softly clears his throat instead.

Tim turns to him, his blue eyes meeting Jason’s teal for the first time and his face…Jason had braced himself for various reactions Tim would have had to seeing who was behind Jason’s mask, but it wasn’t this.

“Hello Bradbury,” Tim says, and the nickname along with the knowing look in Tim’s eyes sends a pleasant curl of heat throughout Jason’s torso.

“How long did you know?”

“Probably about as long as you knew about me.”

Jason stares at him at a loss. “Then why didn’t you turn me in?”

“I had been making a lot of compromises lately anyway. I figured one more couldn’t help,” Tim looks away from Jason and down at his lap. “Especially for someone who deserves it.”

“Thank you,” Jason says, knowing Tim will likely never understand the impact his words are having on Jason internally.

“It should be me thanking you now that our positions are reversed,” Tim eyes him playfully. “You could have just let me go.”

And Jason can’t stop himself from smiling as he repeats back Red’s first words to him. “Maybe someday.”


	16. Pretend Relationship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request fill for 13KeithXPidge13 :)  
> *I haven't had time to edit this yet forgive me Dx

Tim knows it’s going to be a bad day when he walks into his hotel room and finds Jason Todd himself sitting on his hotel bed, flipping through an activity pamphlet for the resort.

He has on a red and yellow hawaiian shirt, khakis, and flip flops. The shoes on the bed might be the most irksome part, or maybe it’s the hideously offensive colors on the shirt, or maybe it’s just Jason’s presence all together that’s the worst part. Either way, Tim is very irked.

“Jason,” Tim says. “To what do I owe the displeasure?”

“Rude,” Jason says, looking up at him.

When Jason’s gaze meets Tim’s, Tim can see the familiar flame of snark behind Jason’s eyes. Tim knows a snide comment would usually follow this look, but for whatever reason today Jason stays silent. The flame flickers out into a suspiciously blank look as Jason’s eyes move slowly down, stopping briefly around Tim’s navel before jumping back up and locking on Tim’s face.

It’s then that Tim remembers that he’s shirtless, wearing only his swimming trunks, and he has to fight the urge to cross his arms in an attempt to cover up more. Tim hopes he had got enough sun at the beach earlier to hide the blush.

“What?” he can’t help but snap.

“Sleep and sun look good on you,” Jason grins crookedly. “You should get them more often.”

“Well that was the whole point of Bruce confiscating most of my tech and sending me all the way to Fiji,” Tim says a bit bitterly. He hated that he had let enough wariness show for Bruce to think he couldn’t handle his duties. He wanted Bruce to be able to depend on him always.

Jason doesn’t seem amused by his dilemma. “Oh no, Brucie sending you on a tropical island vacation to let you rest must have been so horrible. Boo freakin’ hoo.”

Tim glares, giving in to the temptation to cross his arms since the need is out of anger this time. “Would you want to be sent away while you were in the middle of three cases?”

Jason pauses before making a noncommittal sound, which Tim takes to mean Jason knows he’s right but doesn’t want to admit it. Which means-

“You’re here on a case, aren’t you?”

“Sure am.” Jason moves to a sitting position and finally gets his shoes off the bed when he swings his legs over the side. “And I need you to help me.”

“Why would I do that?” Tim asks. “I’m on vacation, remember?”

“Because you’re on vacation and you-” Jason points at him accusingly, “Are a workaholic little nerd and I bet you’re bored out of your mind.”

The noncommittal noise Tim makes in response sounds an awful lot like the one Jason made only moments ago. It seems to please Jason.

“Go take a shower,” Jason says. “I’ll tell you everything you need to know while you get ready.”

Tim follows his orders without complaint, his curiosity winning over his desire to give Jason a hard time. True to his word, Jason follows him into the bathroom once Tim is safely behind the shower curtain to give him the case details.

Elira Lami was a successful business woman, close friend of Talia al Ghul and, most importantly to the case, the enforcer behind the Albanian mafia drug trade routes in the U.S. Jason knew her from his time spent with Talia and wanted to use his relationship with her to gain information he needs to move against the drug trade.

She wasn’t going to give this information to Jason willingly of course, no matter how close her and Jason had been before, so it was going to be up to Tim to find a way to hack into her phone while Jason was distracting her.

“So Elira thinks she’s just meeting an old friend for lunch, and I’m what? Your plus one?” Tim recaps, using the mirror in front of him to catch sight of Jason standing behind him. He’s looking at the beach through Tim’s patio door, but Tim returns his focus to tying his hair up in a ponytail before Jason notices his attention.

“You were either going to be my date or my bodyguard but you’re not looking very bodyguard-like right now.”

Tim frowns, adjusting his bangs. This time when he uses the mirror to look at Jason, Jason is facing him. “And what are bodyguards supposed to look like?”

Jason walks from the door over to stand behind Tim. When he gets to Tim, he lifts a hand to tug on the yellow cloth resting over Tim’s shoulders. “Well they don’t usually wear things like...what exactly is this that you’re wearing?”

“It’s a romper,” Tim says, smirking. “Don’t you like it?”

“I like it. There just aren’t very many places for you to hide a weapon with that on.”

Tim doesn’t have a response for that. After the patio door slides shut behind Jason, when Tim turns back to his reflection, his notices splotches of red decorating his cheeks.

I like it.

__________

Elira Lami was a large gorgeous woman with a loud personality. Everything about her screamed that she thrived from being the center of attention, from her bright green dress to her booming laugh. She seemed to adore Jason, but she barely spared a few words in greeting for Tim.

Tim should be grateful, Elira’s lack of attention for him will make it easier for Tim to do his part, but her hungry single minded gaze on Jason makes Tim’s hands itch to button the top three buttons back up on Jason’s shirt.

Jason takes advantage of Elira’s infatuation with him, sliding close to her and feigning interest in whatever she is talking about. By the time the second course is being served, Jason has passed Elira’s phone from her own pocket on to Tim’s without once breaking the conversation.

Tim excuses himself for the restroom not too long after. He trusts that Jason has Elira quite distracted for the moment, but he isn’t sure how long she’ll be able to go without checking her phone.

He hides in a stall and quickly attaches one of Jason’s hacking devices to her phone. It’s slower than the one Tim has back in Gotham, but it does give a satisfying little display of pixelated cartoon guns firing once all of her data has successfully been copied onto Tim’s phone.The rush of a completing a step forward with a case, even one as small as this one, prompts a smile to appear on Tim’s face.

A smile that lasts right up until he leaves the bathroom and runs into Elira.

“Miss Lami,” he says, not at all faking his surprise. “I think the ladies room is actually around the corner.” He gestures toward it with his right hand while his left quickly slips her phone into his back pocket.

“Oh no honey,” she says, her voice surprisingly low in pitch and volume compared to how its been previously this evening. “I was actually looking for you.”

Something about her words causes silent warning bells to appear in Tim’s brain. He looks over her shoulder into the dining area to try to see Jason but their table isn’t in his line of sight.  
“And why is that?”

“I just think it’s a little curious,” Elira cocks her head and taps her index finger against her cheek in a sarcastic impression of thinking. “Curious how Jason has never once mentioned being involved with someone yet he suddenly shows up with you on his arm. It just seems a little odd, doesn’t it?”

“Not really,” Tim shrugs. “People keep things like relationships private all the time.”

“Jason doesn’t keep anything from me.”

Tim grins before he can help himself. “I doubt that.”

Elira grins back, like she had been hoping for that response. “Prove it then.”

“And how would I do that?”

“When we get back, kiss him. On the lips.”

“That’s all?” Tim raises a brow. He had honestly expected something a little more sinister from someone involved in the mafia. “I can kiss him.” He can.

“Without any warning. You have to walk right up and do it without saying a word.”

“Sure,” Tim nods. “We do stuff like that all the time. Everyday.” He’s going to get punched.

 

But Jason doesn’t make any movements like he’s going to hit him when Tim leans into his space only moments later.

The soft noise he makes when their lips meet is one of surprise and not anger.

And when his hands finally move its to fist them in the fabric of the romper resting near Tim’s hips.

Tim mirrors Jason’s movements, only barely having enough sense to use their closeness to transfer Elira’s phone back into Jason’s pocket before wrapping his hands in the soft silk of Jason’s hideous shirt.

He’ll rationalize his next movements later, when he’s frantically remembering every detail of this kiss, and tell himself that when he deepens the kiss it’s only to make it look that much more real. But even then, he’ll have no logical explanation for why Jason would possibly want to slip his tongue into Tim’s mouth. It’s a wonderful kiss, one that could have gone on indefinitely if only Elira’s cold, pleased laugh hadn’t began to wash over them.

“Someone owes me fifty bucks,” she says when she has both of their attention.

Tim doesn't understand what she means, but he knows Jason must when he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of cash.

“Umm,” he says as Jason hands over the money while looking firmly away from Tim.

“We just made a little bet about whether or not I could get you to kiss him. Jason didn't think you'd do it, since you two aren't actually a couple or anything.”

Tim turns from Elira’s smug look to see Jason give him a little half shrug with a sheepish grin. He still won't make direct eye contact with Tim though.  
Somehow that only makes it worse.

“So this was all just a game then?”

“Oh you didn't know?” Elira feigns confusion.

“Okay.” Tim tugs on his bangs to help get rid of the urge to punch Jason. “Okay. I'm leaving.”

He leaves Jason's silence and Elira’s cackle behind him as he marches out the door.

  
_________________

Jason finds him on the beach later, barefoot and ankle deep in the water, watching the Sun slowly dip below the water line in the distance.

“She wouldn't have let you come with me unless we played a game with you,” he explains. “It's kind of her thing. She knew you weren't really my boyfriend but she didn't know we were after her trade routes. That part was real.”

“You could have told me,” Tim says. “I don't like being played with.”

“She would have known if your reaction wasn't real. I'm sorry though.”

“Yeah. I'm sorry too. About the kiss I mean,” Tim clarifies. “I know you weren't expecting me to do that.”

There's a pause before Jason replies, and when he does there's a small hesitate smile on his face. “I didn't mind that part.”

“Well don't get used to it.” Tim snorts. And he means it too. Jason has a lot of sucking up to do before Tim even considers kissing him again.

He thinks it's probably lucky for Jason that Tim still has three days left on his vacation. It would be plenty of time for Jason to convince Tim it was worth a second try.

 

 


	17. Jurassic AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jurassic World AU!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a request but something I did for funsies :)

“And even if the gyrosphere breaks, I’m more than capable of handling whatever comes our way,” Jason is saying from the seat beside him. He’s steering because, unlike Tim who is just visiting, Jason has worked on the park for well over a year and knows the different routes the dinosaurs tend to take. He made certain Tim knew that within their first sixty seconds in the gyrosphere too.

From the moment Mr. Wayne needlessly introduced them earlier, Jason had straightened from his slouch, his blatant disinterest in his chauffeur duties turning into a strange eagerness when he recognized Tim. Ever since, it had been _brag_ this and _brag_ that.

Tim used to doubt Jason knew he took Tim’s virginity that night during Tim’s sophomore year of college because of the way he had vanished the next morning. Now, taking in Jason’s easy smiles and seemingly endless knowledge of the park, Tim thinks differently.

Five years later, Jason remains the same beautiful douchebag that left Tim a little star struck and quite a bit heartbroken when he was nineteen. But Tim isn’t as naïve as he was back then.

He pulls out his recorder and holds it up between them. In the cramped space within the ball, he doesn’t have to worry about it struggling to pick up either of their voices. “So you’re telling me there’s a risk of the gyrosphere malfunctioning during an excursion? What are the chances of such a thing happening to the guests when the park opens? What measures does the park practice to ensure a guest’s safety if such a thing occurs?”

Jason face goes blank with surprise, but before Tim can feel smug, he turns toward Tim with a scowl. “You’re a wildlife photographer, not a journalist.”

“I can multitask,” Tim says, inching the recording closer to Jason’s face. “You didn’t answer my questions.” An embarrassing squeak escapes him when Jason’s hand leaves the steering device to swat the recorder away from him.

“Mr. Wayne never agreed to-”

“Look out!”

Tim only notices the drop first because he had glanced back toward the front of the gyrosphere in search of his recorder. Jason, who had _bragged_ and _bragged_ about his knowledge of the parks paths, allowed Tim to distract him enough that he had sent them straight toward a cliff.

There’s nothing Tim can do but watch as the distance between the ledge and them shortens, impossibly fast and then only slightly slower when Jason pulls on the breaks.

It’s not enough to stop them from rolling off the cliff. Tim screams, or maybe it's Jason, when the ground below them vanishes and suddenly there's nothing but air between them and the water meters below. They fall.

And fall.

And fall.

The gyrosphere keeps them upright and absorbs the shock of their impact on the water. The splash it makes as it hits the water is muted to Jason and Tim as they are already below the surface when the noise sounds.

Tim breathes a shaky exhale as they sink to the bottom, clutching his camera protectively against his chest. His other hand aches, but that’s only because Jason is nearly crushing it with the grip he has on him. Looking at the dimly lit and eerily still water around them, Tim can’t bring himself to let go.

“Jason?” There’s a sharp pressure in Tim’s skull and when he swallows his ears pop. “You remember when I asked you about what the park would do in situations exactly like this one?”

Jason continues to stare out into the water without speaking. He looks intent, like he’s searching for something. Tim squints out into the inky waters, trying to see what Jason could be looking for, but he can only make out a couple feet in front of them. A cool feeling of dread settles heavily in his stomach.

“They wouldn’t happen to have any predatory aquatic dinosaurs out in the actual park would it?” Tim asks, his voice echoing in the quiet around them. “Like prehistoric crocodiles or something?”

“We haven’t been able to replicate the DNA for creatures that were related to crocodiles just yet. They’re closer to alli-”

He’s cut off when something slams into the back of the gyrosphere. The shock absorbers aren’t enough this time to keep Tim from sliding out of his seat. Jason falls too, and they land in a crumpled heap on the floor, on top of all their equipment.  

Tim falls into Jason getting an elbow in the face, but before he can react he’s thrown off him and tossed back into his seat. Throughout the chaos he gets glimpses of a red mouth and teeth surrounding them but everything moves too fast for him to really process anything but sounds and sensations.

There’s a sharp crack followed by the drip of water  on his skin. Jason curses. Another crack and cold splash of water. A thud as Jason’s fist hit something right next to Tim’s head, a sizzle, a roar.

There’s more shaking, more tumbling until Tim has no sense of what’s up or down anymore. Every item in the gyrosphere leaves at least one bruise on Tim, Jason included, before the tumbling finally stops.

Tim ends up on his back staring up at the blinding light of the sun. He has time to think a desperately thankful I’m alive before he rolls to his hands and knees and promptly throws up. When his lunch has finished escaping his stomach, he stands to try to get some idea of where he ended up. He spots Jason by the completely shattered gyrosphere not too far away from him, crouched with his palms pressed into his knees as he tries to catch his breath. Tim shakes his head at himself, at the shoulder-sagging relief he feels upon seeing Jason unharmed and makes his way over to check out the equipment.

He finds his camera unharmed while his recorder is in pieces. He can work with that. He can just-

He happens to glance up just in time to see the creature that had attacked them start turning around to make its way back into the water and freezes when an eyeball the size of his hand blinks at him. It doesn’t seem to want to have anything to do with them anymore though.

“They installed a heating mechanism on the outer ring of the glass just in case something like this happened,” Jason gasps breathlessly. “Pretty badass right? Minimal damage to the animals, as long as they’re smart enough to let go quickly, and we’re still alive. It was my idea-Hey. Are you seriously taking pictures right now?”

“My camera didn’t break. Might as well make the most of it,” Tim mutters, snapping another picture of the dinosaur-a Deinosuchus he thinks it is- with unsteady hands. It’s bigger than a city bus, and makes the ground shake with each step it takes on its way back into the water.

“Gotta admire your dedication to your job,” Jason sighs.

Before Tim can reply a loud screech sounds somewhere disturbingly close by. He pulls the camera away from his face just in time to see Jason school his features into something that resembles composure.

“We should probably head back now,” Jason says with a forced grin.


	18. JayTim as kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request fill for jaytim cuddles with Dick walking in on them :)
> 
> My requests are opening back up next month!

By the time Jason manages to sneak away from the charity gala Bruce is hosting it’s way past his usual bedtime. Bruce, Alfred, and Jason are normally all very strict about Jason getting to bed on weekdays, but it’s a Saturday, and apparently Bruce schmoozing with Gotham’s socialites was more important than Jason keeping a regular schedule for school. 

Jason has had his face pinched probably over ten times tonight by women attached to Bruce’s arm, telling Bruce how cute he is, causing him to spend most of the party with red, sore cheeks. Bruce is going to owe him like five blizzards from DQ just to make up for this whole ordeal. 

He uses the opening of the live orchestra Bruce hired to make his escape, climbing up the stairs to his bedroom once the attention is finally diverted from Bruce and his newest adopted son. His  room is across the hall from Dick’s, far down the upper West hall of the Manor and as far away as he is going to get from the party while staying indoors. 

He breathes a sigh of relief the moment he shuts his bedroom door behind him and all sounds of the party become dull and muffled. A second relieved sigh make its way past his lips as he changes out of his suit into the soft cloth pajamas Alfred had bought him last Christmas. The third sigh gets cut off for a startled gasp while he’s trying to get comfortable on the mattress and finds another body in the bed with him. 

It’s a boy about his age, sleeping peacefully on his side in a cocoon of Jason’s blankets. He’s wearing tux, so Jason knows he must be the kid of one of the socialites at the party. He didn’t see anyone looking frantically around for a child the party so they must not know their son is stowed away, drooling on Jason’s favorite pillow. 

Not sure what else to do, Jason settles on his side facing the boy and reaches forward to jab him in the forehead several times until his forehead scrunches up and he blinks awake. 

“Hey,” Jason whispers as the boy’s blue eyes squint into focus. “Why are you in my bed?”

The boy yawns loudly without bothering to cover his mouth and Jason gets a face full of warm sleep scented breath. “Dick said I could sleep here.”

“He offered my bed up?” Jason scowls. “That  _ dick _ .”

The boy giggles. “No he offered his bed because he knew I was getting sleepy and my parents aren’t going to be leaving anytime soon.”

“Well you got the wrong room.”

“Oh, sorry I can- Wait a minute,” the boy’s eyes widen and his next words come out in a rush. “You’re Jason Todd.”

Jason shies away from the boy’s excitement. “How’d you know that?”

“Bruce Wayne just finalized your adoption last month! It was all over the News. They showed footage of you two leaving the courthouse together.”

“Oh right,” Jason says. He’s still getting used to being in the public eye. He doubts it’ll ever not be creepy when strangers act like they know him personally though. He doesn’t know how Bruce and Dick have been handling it so well for so long. “And who are you?”

“I’m Tim Drake,” Tim says, holding a out for Jason to shake. “Do you want me to leave?”

And, Jason is planning on saying yes, without hesitation that he wants this relative stranger out of bed, but then Tim’s drooping eyes do this funny thing to his stomach and he finds himself instead saying, “You can stay.” 

Tim’s answering smile makes that almost queasy feeling in his stomach intensify so Jason closes his eyes before it gets worse, yawning and throwing the covers over both of them. 

He wakes up to the comforting warm weight in his arms being pulled away and makes an unhappy noise while trying to reach for it. 

Dick makes a cooing noise from somewhere close by. “Aww they were cuddling, Bruce. Can’t Tim stay the night?”

“Maybe some other time.”

This makes Jason open his eyes, and he sees a blonde woman standing beside his bed, lifting Tim in his arms.  
“Thanks for taking care of him, Mr. Wayne,” she smiles, looking somewhere behind Jason. 

“It’s really no problem,” Bruce says, in his playboy billionaire voice. 

Tim opens his eyes then, looking around and finding Jason instantly. 

“Goodbye Jay,” he says sleepily, giving him a little wave. 

“Bye Tim,” Jason says, and finds himself looking forward to Bruce’s next charity function already.


	19. Bruce supporting jaytim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based off of prompt 228 by ryahwolfe on tumblr:  
> Bruce’s reaction when some businessman makes a crude comment about Tim and Jason dating

Bruce is positive he doesn’t really deserve to feel pride as he watches Tim’s commanding presence in the meeting room, demanding respect from even the most critical of Wayne Enterprises business partners. It’s Tim’s doing and Tim’s alone that he’s come this far.

The meeting extends twenty minutes later than it should thanks to an elderly man named Dexter Reynolds, CEO of Reynolds Recycling and one of Wayne Enterprises oldest business partners. He questions Tim’s business plan repeatedly, seemingly getting more and more frustrated as Tim fires back responses with quick wit and cool politeness. Bruce would have been happy to continue watching the exchange if he hadn’t noticed the growing tension in Tim’s shoulders and the muscle ticking in his jaw.

Fully embracing his mask as Gotham’s richest playboy, Bruce yawns loudly and checks his watch in dramatic movements.

“Well as fun as this has been,” his sarcastic tone earns him several unamused side-eyes. “I have a meeting with a pretty lady who I really don’t want to keep waiting.”

Dexter laughs loudly at that. “Can’t go too long without a woman on your arm can you, Mr. Wayne? That’s how a real man does it.” Dexter isn’t even looking at Bruce as he says it, his attention still on Tim at the front of the room.

If anyone else had said that, Bruce wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But something in Dexter’s tone makes Bruce pay closer attention. He looks from the unpleasantly smug expression of Dexter’s face to Tim. Bruce knows he had to have heard the exchange, but Tim keeps on packing up this things. Just above the collar of his shirt, his neck is starting to show bright red patches.

Bruce knows something is going on between the two of them, but he has no idea what. Part of him wants to allow Tim to grow by letting him fight his own battles. Another part of him, a nagging voice in the back of his head that sounds suspiciously like Dick, scolds that Tim shouldn’t have to face every fight alone.

“The meeting is over,” Bruce says pointedly to Dexter, and to the other business associates lingering in the meeting lounge.Once everyone but Tim has left the room, Bruce is free to ask Tim what that was all about.

Only Bruce has never been good with the whole communication thing. He means to ask if everything is alright but what comes out is, “You did good back there,”

Even so, Tim seems to grow an inch under the praise. It might not have been the right thing to say, but it certainly wasn’t the wrong thing either.

“Thanks,” he says, grabbing his stuff to follow Bruce out. “I felt like it got a little dicey there toward the end. I’ll have to do some more research before the next phase.”

“Business meetings never go the way you want them,” Bruce shrugs. “There’s always someone who thinks they know more about the subject than you.”

An irritated expression crosses Tim’s face as he looks to where Dexter has stopped by the receptionists desk on his way out. From the look on the woman’s face, she’s not too amused by whatever tall tale spewing from Dexter’s lips.

Whatever Tim is about to say about the subject is forgotten when they both hear Tim’s name being called from over where the elevator is located.

Jason Todd looks very out of place standing among all the suits and ties in the top floor of Wayne Enterprises, with his windswept hair, brown leather jacket, and well worn jeans. He doesn’t appear to feel that way though, with his confident stride and easy smirk as he makes his way over to them.

“Jason,” Tim says, delight and surprise decorating his voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to take you to lunch.” Jason comes to a stop beside them, giving Bruce a cool side-eye. “Hello B.”

“Jason,” Bruce nods at him but Jason’s attention has already moved back to Tim.

“Oh I was just going to skip that today,” Tim says. “I still have some phone calls I need to make.”

Jason doesn’t respond with words, but he cocks his head and narrows his eyes slightly. Bruce isn’t quite sure what the look means, but he can tell that Tim is by the way his lips turn down in a pout.

“Just go with him,” Bruce says. “The calls can wait.”

“Oh great,” Tim sighs. “The one time you two get along and it’s to bully me into putting off work.” But he still follows when Jason takes his hand and pulls him in the direction of the elevator.

They stay hand in hand as they wait for the elevator to arrive. Once they’ve stepped into the elevator, Jason lets go of Tim’s hand to grab Tim’s tie, tugging him and leaning forward to whisper something in his ear. Tim’s face lights up red as the elevator doors slide shut.

“Disgusting,” Dexter’s voice beside him wipes the smile that Bruce hadn’t even known was there off his face. He keeps his expression carefully neutral as he turns his attention to the man standing beside him.

“What is?” 

Bruce has never been one for second chances, but he has a small hope he’s wrong about the facts currently coming together inside his head. He knows as Dexter turns to him with a scowl that, as usual, he’s right.

***

Tim comes in his office a couple hours later, entering after three light knocks. 

“You called for me,” he says, taking the seat across from Bruce.

“Yes. I wanted to go over a something with you. Some unplanned changes are being made effective immediately.” Bruce takes a moment to stretch out his neck. He had spent most of the afternoon with a phone pressed up against his ear. “Wayne Enterprises are no longer partnered with Reynolds Recycling.” He pauses there, watching for Tim’s reaction.

“What,” Tim leans forward in his seat. “Bruce, they were a huge benefactor to WE’s green movement. Why would you-” His eyes close and his jaw clenches in a pained expression. “He said something to you. About my relationship with Jason.”

Bruce nods. “He made several comments I’m sure you’ve been subjected to already. And I, in return, convinced him to take an early retirement and offered to take the burden of his company off his hands by selling it to me for only half its value. Reynolds Recycling will be renamed Wayne Recycling by the end of the week.”

Tim stares at him in shock. “How?”

“I’m Bruce Wayne,” Bruce smirks. “I can do whatever I want.”

And if what he wants is for Tim to feel free to love whoever he chooses without judgment, then so be it.


	20. Arranged Marriage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request fill from tumblr for arranged marriage!

“Tell me something about yourself,” Tim says suddenly. “Something I don’t already know.”

Jason feels the light and nearly liquid-like comfort of silk sheets on the king sized bed they’re on. Feels the new weight of the wedding band on his finger. Feels the scratches on his hips from where Tim’s fingernails had dug in while Jason was moving above him.

Jason thinks maybe Tim’s only speaking now in attempt to break the suffocating silence. He turns on his side to mirror Tim’s position and confirms his assumption when Tim can’t hold eye contact with him for more than two seconds. Instead he stares intensely at Jason’s exposed chest, like Jason’s bare skin holds the answer to whatever doubts are running through Tim’s mind right now.

“I can go first if you’d like,” Tim prompts, voice barely loud enough to be heard over the noises the water coming outside the beach hut they’re spending their honeymoon in.

Jason’s new position allows him to see the ocean through the open patio door just behind Tim. The white caps on the gentle waves and full moon hovering above make for a breathing taking sight. Jason finds he prefers looking at Tim.

Tim’s words register with him and he shakes his head. “I’ve been your assistant for three years, I think I know all there is to know about you.”

Predictably, Tim’s nose scrunches up to show his irritation. “You don’t know everything.”

“Really?” Jason laughs. He’s playful, giddy even. It’s probably just from the sex. “Okay, prove me wrong then.”

“You’re lucky you don’t work for me anymore, you ass.” Tim shifts a bit. It brings him close enough to Jason that his next exhale moves Tim’s bangs. “Did you know I wanted to be a photographer when I was young?”

“I…didn’t,” Jason frowns. “That’s pretty far off from being the CEO of a multi-million dollar company. What happened?”

“Lots of things,” Tim grins grimly. “Your turn. There must be some mystery behind the man willing to marry someone he hates for money.”

“Not really much of a mystery to it when you offered to pay off my student loans and get me a job suitable to my degree if I’d be your husband for a couple years.” Jason shrugs. “And I don’t hate you.”

“Roy said otherwise. At the wedding. In front of my father.”

Jason winces. “He’s a bit protective.”

“He said you refer to me as a man-child.”

“I knew that’d come back to bite me.” Jason sighs. “To be fair, I spent three years doing your laundry, reminding you that you need eat and sleep, showing your one night stands out the door of your penthouse after doing their dry cleaning. If you weren’t a man-child I would have been able to take phone calls for you and book appointments like a normal assistant and your father wouldn’t have threatened to take away your position at the company if you didn’t show some stability.”

“And now you see why Steph said I’ve called you a naggy bastard repeatedly.”

“Oh my god I’m not even touching that.” Jason glares at Tim’s smirking face.

“Then why don’t you answer my question instead? Don’t think I haven’t noticed you avoiding it.”

“I haven’t been avoiding anything.”

Tim raises up on his elbow just so he can look now his nose at Jason.

“Fine,” Jason says in a huff. “Sometimes when I get nervous about something I…” He pauses, swallowing audibly.

Tim’s face softens.

Jason looks up at him through his lashes.

When he speaks it’s soft and quiet, like he’s ashamed of his secret, and he says, “Sometimes when I get nervous I eat greasy foods to make myself feel a little better.”

Tim groans and collapses against the bed. “Are you kidding me?”

“Did you already know that?” Jason teases.

“I tell you about a lost dream of mine and you tell me that you’re a stress eater? That doesn’t sound very equal.”

“Not my fault you hardly know anything about me.”

Tim hums, looking at Jason with calculating eyes. “Well, you’re stuck with me for another two years at least. I’ve got plenty of time to figure you out.”


	21. First kiss in costume

It starts with Jason putting his foot in his mouth.

  
They’re sharing a rooftop, eating cheap subs from a gas station deli since post-patrol grub options are pretty limited. The silence between them is peaceful, relaxing.

Until Tim says almost wistfully, “This would be kinda romantic, you know, if we were like a couple out here.”

  
“Romantic?”

“Yeah,” Tim says. “Dinner and the sunrise over the city? Definitely should be some epic kissing involved here.”

And later Jason will feel very dumb when he realizes that was Tim’s way of making a move just then.

For now he remains oblivious and a little bit of an asshole while he says, “Like you’d know anything about epic kissing.”

Insert foot into mouth.

He’s really just teasing. He doesn’t expect Tim to take it so seriously. But he watches the corner of Tim’s mouth turn down and knows he did.

“I’ve kissed people before, Jason. Several actually.”

For some reason the several causes an unpleasant feeling to settle heavily in Jason’s stomach. Several sounds like a lot of kissing. If Jason were to describe his experience he’d only say a couple. Meaning literally only two people.

“I’ve been told I’m pretty good at it,” Tim says, salting the wound.

“I don’t believe you,” Jason says.

Tim smirks, like he’d expected Jason to say that. “I can prove it if you’d like.”

Wait. “What?”

Tim sits his sub wrapper off the the side and places a hand close to Jason’s thigh, resting his weight on it as he leans into Jason’s space.

“Kiss me.”

“Okay,” Jason says. “Okay.”

And so, surrounded by the early morning light, sitting on the cold concrete roof of a skyscraper, muscles sore from a busy night of crime fighting, stomachs full from cheap gas station food, Jason and Tim share their first kiss.

Tim tastes like banana peppers and ranch, he smells like sweat and fancy cologne, and he kisses like a man who has kissed several people.

Jason’s busted lip stings when Tim sucks on it, his breath shudders through his nose, and he kisses back like a man who has never really been kissed before.

Eventually Jason learns to let Tim take the lead instead of trying things on his own. Tim deepens the kiss and Jason moves his tongue against Tim’s and it’s  _perfect._

Tim pulls away and licks his lips. Jason does the same and tastes banana peppers and ranch all over again.

“How was that?”

Jason’s throat makes a clicking noise when he tries to reply and Tim’s smug expression turns gentle.

“Jason?”

“It was…Can we do it again?”


	22. Crime fighting buddy

He’s not sure what it is that makes him take notice of Tim. It could be all his training as a bat, or it could be that B’s briefing is boring enough to make both his mind and his eyes wander.

It’s all the same stuff anyway.

A criminal escaped Arkham again so Bruce wants to take them down again and Jason is expected not to kill killers again. Lame, boring stuff. He’s too tired to argue, so he lets B’s voice fade into the background.

The batcave takes over his attention first, filling him with bitter nostalgia. It’s not a crushing as the first time he came back, so Jason figures he’s made some sort of progress at least. He remembers nearly trembling with excitement the first time he put on the Robin costume, hiding from Bruce and Alfred just so he could try and surprise them. He remembers polishing up the batmobile, lecturing B to be more careful next time he was in pursuit and wondering why his scolding had made Bruce smile. He remembers climbing on top of the T-Rex’s head to study for college placement exams he’d never get the chance to take.

He turns his attention to the rest of B’s little soldiers then, most of them are seated at the large table with Bruce. Bruce is at the head of course, Damian to his right and Barbara to his left. Next to Damian is Dick, Duke sits next to Barb, Steph and Cass are each three seats from Bruce, across from each other, and Kate sits on the end of the table opposite of Bruce. There are still two seats open in front of Kate. One to her right where Jason should sit, but he’s standing a little ways back from the table, leaning against the computer desk. Tim stands behind the one to her left, keeping it pushed close to the table and crossing his arms over his chest.

An odd thought strikes Jason then. A comparison. Jason’s self-imposed distance successfully separates himself from the family he’s no longer apart of. Tim’s distance almost makes it seem like he wants to be apart of the group and something happened to make him question his place with them.

It causes an odd ache in his chest that lasts throughout the rest of briefing and even after they start breaking off into patrol groups. Bruce and Damian head to old Gotham, Dick and Babs take on the Central Hall district, Steph and Cass cover Robinson Park, and Kate goes off on her own toward the Fashion district on the east side. That leaves Jason and Tim with the west side.

The ache intensifies when Jason slaps a hand on Tim’s shoulder and he tenses. It’s not quite a jump, but the way his muscles don’t relax under Jason’s palm and his wary gaze is somehow worse.

“Looks like we’re together for this one,” Jason says, ignoring Tim’s reaction. “Where should we start?”

Tim shrugs his shoulder out of Jason’s grip and takes a step back. “West side is plenty big. How about you start on the central border and I’ll start at the docks. We’ll meet in the middle when we’re done.”

“Yeah, or we could just stick together.”

A heavy pause, then, “Why?”

“Why not?” Jason frowns. “It’s less boring when you have a crime fighting buddy with you.”

“How would you know?”

“Ever heard of the Outlaws?” Jason scoffs before he continues. “Why does everyone think I don’t have any friends?”

This makes Tim laugh. It’s a quiet thing, almost like he’s scared of it. It makes Jason want to hug him. He resists though, knowing just based on Tim’s reaction to his touch earlier it wouldn’t be welcomed.

“Alright, we can patrol together,” Tim says slowly. “If you want.”

Jason grins. “Sweet.”

So together, they take on the streets of west side Gotham. Kicking ass, taking names, saving civilians, and trading quips. Jason shows Tim he can be trusted to have his back in a fight. He shows Tim that he trusts Tim to watch his back in a fight. They never disappoint each other. He makes a point of not letting silences stretch too long, making Tim laugh at even jokes that would earn Jason nasty looks from the rest of the family, and feeling victorious when Tim’s replies come quicker and his laughs more frequent.

By the end of it, Jason suspects that Tim hasn’t had this good of a time in a long while. He still hasn’t tried to touch Tim again, knowing anything unannounced would be unwelcome, so he tries something else instead.

Crouched on his heels on the head of his favorite gargoyle, Jason raises his right hand up, palm facing toward where Tim is sitting on the gargoyle next to him.

“High five for our first successful patrol together?”

Tim smiles and raises his hand to meet Jason, it’s a quick touch and it’s so gentle that the noise it makes is barely there, but it’s something. “First? Does this mean we’ll be teaming up more often from now on?”

“If you want.”

“I want. And you were right, you know.” Tim dangles his legs over either side of the gargoyle’s head and swings them back at forth. “It is less boring with a crime fighting buddy.”


	23. Narcoleptic Tim

It’s Ivy’s fault really, and that new toxin of hers. A single stab with the needle of her mutated  vines put several victims into indefinite comas, at least until Oracle could whip up a cure.

During the fight to bring her down, Tim didn’t get stabbed. He did, however get scratched. A tiny thing really, something he didn’t even notice until he was changing out of his costume at his penthouse. He didn’t pass out in a coma immediately, so he made the mistake of thinking Ivy’s plant hadn’t cut deep enough to mess with him.

Days go by without much of an incident. Tim’s tired, extremely tired, and maybe he falls asleep at his desk a couple times more than usual in the week following the attack, but neither of those things are unheard of for him. Then he starts falling asleep at random increasingly inconvenient times.

Like in the middle of an interview with a promising new employee candidate who probably wouldn’t accept Wayne Enterprises job offer based on the way he stormed out of the office.

Or while Jason was over and they’re trying to be intimate. Fortunately for both of them they weren’t very far into the act. Unfortunately for Tim, Jason refused to do anything more than cuddling for the rest of the night.

The worst by far was when Tim falls asleep during patrol, in mid-air, after Tim took a leap off a building trying to get the drop on a low scale thug. One second he’s soaring through the air and the next nothing. His eyes rolled back, his body went limp, and he fell.

He thought he heard screaming but he couldn’t open his eyes.

He woke up in the infirmary of the batcave with Bruce, Dick, Damian, Jason, and Alfred all glaring down at him.

Bruce said, “You were infected with Ivy’s poison.”

Alfred said, “Timothy, you could have died.”

Damian said, “Would have, if I hadn’t caught you. You bring shame to the Robin title.”

Dick said, “You scared the heck out of us.”

Jason didn’t say anything, just stared at Tim with wide eyes that made him feel terribly guilty.

“I’m sorry.” He said it to all of them, but he didn’t take his eyes off Jason.

They forgave him of course, because that’s how their family works. A vicious cycle of fucking up and forgiving. It helped that Babs could use him to speed up her research on the vaccine, so his near death experience wasn’t a complete waste. Even so, it still took Barbara a week to come up with a lasting cure.

During that time, everyone pitched in and took shifts watching Tim, much to his displeasure. He couldn’t tell which of them was the most annoying. They each hovered in various degrees, making Tim feel suffocated. He did notice that he woke up from sudden naps with less bruises while Damian watched him, although he wasn’t quite sure what to do with that information. Jason was his favorite, because he acted like they’re just hanging out like they always do, with Alfred coming in at a close second.

He wouldn’t have a favorite at all if he knew that they were all working together to create a compilation of videos of Tim falling asleep in the middle of an act to show him once everyone was cured.


	24. Things you said when you thought I was asleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 21-24 added 9.23.18

“You offered me a drink once,” Tim says the moment Jason climbs through the window into his safe house. Tim feels oddly pleased that he’s able to predict which safe house Jason would chose for the night.

“Fucking Christ Tim! I could have shot you!” Jason being a bit dramatic about him showing up uninvited is something he predicted too. 

“I was willing to take that chance.”

Jason tugs off his helm for the soul purpose of showing Tim his completely unamused expression. Tim has always liked that about Jason, how open and honest he is about what he’s feeling. If he’s angry, punches are thrown. If he’s sad, he shouts. If he’s happy, he cuts up and jokes around. Unlike Tim, who distances himself from loved ones and hides behind logical, heartless facts, Jason isn’t afraid of feeling. Maybe because it shows that he’s alive.

“You offered me a drink once,” Tim says again.

“Yeah, and you refused remember?” He scoffs. “‘I’m seventeen, Jason.’”

“I’m older now.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, and I’d like that beer now. Unless the offer had an expiration date?”

Jason eyes Tim suspiciously, and Tim knows Jason’s trying to figure out what could have pushed Tim to come here, to Jason. Tim waits on the couch, fighting the urge to break eye contact. Finally,  when Jason shakes his head and starts walking toward the kitchenette, Tim lets himself deflate back against the couch.

Jason comes back with two bottles of beer. He hands one to Tim as he sits down on the opposite end of the couch and takes a swing of his own. Jason’s throat moves as he swallows, twice, before he pulls the bottle away from his lips with a sigh.

Tim takes a tiny hesitant sip to taste and then, after he decides he’s okay with the taste, takes a large gulp. When he looks back over at Jason, it seems like he’s more focused on finding a movie for them to watch on Netflix, but there’s a smile on his face.

Together they split a six pack and watch Stranger Things, even though they’ve both already seen it before. Jason stretches out on the couch, legs propped up on the coffee table and one arm draped against the back of the couch. Tim stays curled up in his corner, sipping at his drink and letting the warm, light buzz wash over him.

Jason is finished with his beers by the end of the second episode and Tim is halfway through his third, blinking sleepily at the credits when Jason pauses it suddenly.

He shifts on the couch and clears his throat before he asks, “Wanna talk about it?”

“Talk about what,” Tim mumbles into his drink and jumps when Jason flicks his ear. “Hey!”

“You’re too smart to try and play dumb,” Jason says. “Do you want to talk about whatever brought you here tonight? I know it wasn’t my charming personality.”

Tim tilts his head back and finishes off his drink before he replies. “I didn’t want to be alone, and I didn’t want to be around anyone else either,” he adds when Jason opens his mouth to list off all the other people Tim could have gone to.

“Thought you were the loner type like Brucie,” Jason says again.

“No one likes to be alone all the time,” Tim says with a shrug. Especially not on nights when he can’t get rid of the thoughts running around in his head, trying to convince him that he’d never be good enough. He’s not quite drunk enough to confess that out loud to Jason though.

Jason must hear or see something in Tim’s expression, because he doesn’t push Tim for anymore answers. He just nods and presses play on their show.

Tim doesn’t remember falling asleep, but he wakes up when he feels a cover being draped over him. He’s too tired to open his eyes or speak so he lets Jason continue thinking he’s unconscious, fighting back a smile when Jason goes so far as to tuck the blanket securely around him.

He feigns sleep as Jason brushes Tim’s hair back off his face, his callused palm rough against Tim’s smoother cheek.

He feigns sleep as Jason leans down and whispers, “You’re gonna be okay, babybird.”

And only when Jason’s bedroom door shuts behind him, does Tim allow the smile to break out on his face.


	25. Things you said that made me feel real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request from tumblr!
> 
> *Chapters 25-27 added 9-30

“Since when do you drink pop?” Jason picks up the can off Tim’s desk. It’s half full and at room temperature which, knowing Tim, could either mean he’s been working on it awhile or that it was never cold in the first place. Hot pop. Ugh. **  
**

“Since Alfred banned me from both coffee and energy drinks.” Tim never takes his eyes from the security footage he’s viewing. Jason hasn’t seen him blink in at least two minutes. Once Tim gets into the zone there’s only a few things that could take his attention away from the case.

Jason frequently exploits one of those things when he feels like Tim has pushed himself too hard. It’s flattering, knowing that all it takes is a light caress and whispered promises from Jason to get Tim’s undivided attention. Today isn’t one of those days.

Jason’s too focused on Tim’s newest unhealthy habit to be sexy. His attention to the present fades as he turns the can toward him to show the white writing on the side. He hasn’t had any type of brown pop in years. His mom had a boyfriend once that lived off of pepsi and beef jerky. Jason hadn’t much liked either of those things by the time that particular boyfriend stopped coming around. Jason blinks, forcing the words back into focus.

“I’m taking a drink of this,” he says, sharper than necessary.

“No you’re not,” Tim says, holding his hand out without taking his eyes off the screen. “That’s mine. Get your own.”

“But it says to share it with your soulmate, Tim. You have to.” He holds it out for Tim to read even though he knows it’ll be a wasted effort. He doesn’t expect Tim to scoff though.

“Does it really say that?” Tim laughs. “Lame.”

“What’s lame?”

“You know, just like-Oh!” Tim presses a couple buttons, freezing the frame and zooming in on the image. “Nah, definitely not him.”

It takes less than thirty seconds for Jason’s patience to run out. “…Tim?”

“Huh?” Tim finally, finally looks away from the screen to blink at Jason with bloodshot eyes. “Oh right, soulmates. The idea is just kind of silly.”

“Silly,” Jason repeats, frowning. “Why?”

“The idea that there’s only one person out there that’s perfect for you, and that fate is what chooses that person is pretty ridiculous. It’s not how real life works.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Tim narrows his eyes. “Bullcrap. You chew on your bottom lip when you lie to me.”

“I just thought that you and me were…” Jason clears his throat and flushes. He suddenly feels very young. “We’re pretty good together, right? I mean, you’re as close as meant to be as it gets for me.” He shrugs, and this time it’s him staring at the surveillance footage in order to avoid looking at Tim.

And suddenly Tim is standing up, cupping Jason’s face in his hands and forcing Jason to look at him. He has that smile he gets when he thinks Jason is being silly.

“Jason I said I didn’t believe in soulmates, not that I thought we weren’t perfect together.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. you big goof,” he says in a warm voice. “We weren’t born made for each other and us being together isn’t something fate decided. Nothing forced us together, but we here are. I’m with you because I chose you, and I was lucky enough that you chose me too. Doesn’t that sound more romantic than soulmates?”

Jason nods. His face is on fire. “Sorry. I don’t even know why that bothered me.”

Tim kisses him. “As long as you know that what we have is real. And that I love you.”

“I love you too.”


	26. Catlad!Jason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request from tumblr for Jason taking care of a sick Tim :)
> 
> *Chapters 25-27 added 9/30

He’s in the middle of closing a business deal at Wayne Enterprises when Alfred sends him a text reminding him to make sure he gets his flu shot. He sends back a thumbs-up emoji and  plans to stop on his way home to get it out of the way. Until all hell breaks loose when the one of WE’s business partners wants to back out at the last second and Tim has to video chat with them for over three hours straight to convince them to stay on board.

He never does end up getting that flu shot. And maybe, if he didn’t live in a heavily populated city full of people and their germs, if he constantly got enough sleep at night and took the time to eat as often as he should, it might not have mattered. But Tim lives in Gotham, gets an average of four hours of sleep a night, and has sorely deprived his body of proper nutrients. 

In other words, he’s doomed.

It hits him in the evening right before patrol, sudden and devastating like a train wreck. One second he’s going over case files on his laptop in the cave and the next it feels like his head is about to explode, like his stomach is turning inside out on itself, like his muscles are being crushed in a trash compactor.

It sucks.

But, because he’s Tim, he still goes on patrol that night.

He fights his symptoms with a stubbornness that rivals Bruce’s will to pretend he doesn’t care about anything and several large gulps of DayQuil, Things go relatively fine for the most part, until he gets into a coughing fit while he’s handcuffing a would-be car thief to a telephone pole for the police to find.

“Oh shoot,” he mutters. “Really should have got my flu-shot.”

The thief shies away from him even though he can’t get very far now that he’s handcuffed. “You never got your shot?”

“Hey don’t judge me!” Tim says, sticking a tracker to the guy’s forehead so Gordon can find him. “I’m a busy guy.”

“Dude, not cool.” The thief says and Tim can’t really be sure if he’s talking about the tracker or Tim’s lack of concern for his own health.

“You’re not cool,” Tim retorts. “Wait I take that back. You’re a catch! Get it? Because-”

“Oh my god,” the thief groans. “I have friends that think you’re a bad-ass. It’s gonna break their hearts when I tell them how fucking lame you are.”

“I’m the baddest ass you’ll ever see.”

“Oh my god.”

“What, you don’t believe me?” Tim shakes his head and blinks away the sudden dizziness the movement brings. “I caught you, didn’t I? All by myself too. I’m a strong independent Robin who don’t need no Batman.” He winces, deciding he should probably stop talking now. 

The thief rolls his eyes skyward and mutters something that sounds like a prayer. Tim almost replies, but then instead of word vomit coming out of his mouth again, this time actual vomit spills out. The force of it has him leaning forward so it spills onto the street pavement in front of his feet instead of just straight down the front of him, small mercies.

The thief lets out startled cry and Tim holds a finger up signaling him to wait as another wave of nausea overtakes him. This time it lasts long enough that his vision starts to spot and when he finally, finally, is able to breathe, his entire body shakes with the force of his inhale.

Suddenly there’s a hand rubbing a soothing trail along his spine.

“You escaped?” Tim croaks out when his vision clears enough that he can make out the thief standing next to him. “How?”

“I learned how to get out of handcuffs when I was ten,” the thief says casually. “You gonna be alright?”

“Yeah,” Tim says. “Yeah, I think-”

And then he promptly passes out. Luckily a pair of warm, strong arms save him from falling forward into his own vomit.

He wakes up shivering and sweating and laying on something that feels like a cloud. His throat feels swollen when he tries to swallow and opening his eyes is more of a struggle than it should be. He manages though and finds himself in a large loft. He must be in the living room area, because he’s on a large couch covered with blankets-so many blankets- and in front of him is a glass coffee table with  intricate gold decorations carved into it. There’s a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup and a bottle of Gatorade sitting on it.

He sits up, ignoring the soup and reaching for the Gatorade. He unscrews the cap with shaking fingers and takes a tiny sip in order to try and ease the pain in his throat. It helps, if only barely. He sighs, running a hand through his hair before freezing suddenly.

His cowl is off, and when he looks down he can see that his costume has been replaced with a red hoodie and black sweatpants that are a few sizes too big on him.

“You’re awake,” a voice says suddenly from behind the couch.

Tim jumps, nearly spilling Gatorade all over himself, and whips his head around to find the thief leaning  against the entryway to the lofts kitchen.

“You’re not just a common criminal, are you?”

The thief grins and shakes his head. “Nope. I was mostly just fucking with you last night, then you got sick,” his face scrunches up in a grimace that Tim can’t help but find terribly cute.

“And you decided to kidnap me?”

“If you think that taking you to my closest safe house, cleaning you up, and feeding you counts as kidnapping, then you run with a much different crowd than I do. I didn’t even tie you up.”

Tim stares at him incredulously. “Who are you?”

“Jason Todd,” the thief says with a grin. “Though, you might know me better as Catlad.”

“You’re Catlad. The man who made off with over a million dollars worth of diamonds at the runway show last month.”

“The very same,” Jason preens. “Although I only got a cut of that, since the men I work for are greedy bastards.”

“Huh,” Tim says, taking this all in. “You’re giving me your identity so we’re even now, right? If you run your mouth, so can I.”

“Oh no,” Jason laughs. “No. I was only telling you because I figured it was polite. Nobody cares about who Jason Todd is. A lot of people will find it interesting that young Timothy Drake-Wayne has been dressing up as a vigilante every night.”

Tim glares. “Then what do you want from me?”

Jason tilts his head, considering him. “Lots of things. Things that require you to be in much better shape than the mess you’re in now though,” Jason turns away from him to head back into the kitchen. “Eat your soup. We’ll talk business after I finish sharpening my knives.”


	27. Highschool au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request from tumblr!
> 
> *Chapters 25-27 added 9/30

Jason makes the mistake of sneaking up on Tim, reaching a hand out to touch his shoulder while he’s rummaging through his locker.

The following sequence of events happens in only a handful of seconds:

Jason’s hand lands on Tim’s shoulder, fingers gripping the soft material of his Lord of the Rings  hoodie.

Tim tenses, lets out a sound that sounds something like a battle cry while he twirls.

He lands an open palm strike at the center of Jason’s chest that sends a wave of pain all the through to Jason’s spine.

Jason falls flat on the ground, clutching his chest and wheezing.

Tim promptly kneels to the ground spewing apologies around poorly concealed chuckles.

And that’s how, only seconds after Jason touches Tim, he ends up in the dirty ground of Gotham High’s hallways, surrounded by his gawking peers, feeling like he’s having a heart attack.

“I’m having a heart attack,” he says pitifully.

“You are not, you big baby,” Tim says, apparently done feeling guilty. “I barely hit you.”

“If by barely you mean with enough force to crush my sternum, sure.”

This has Tim chuckling again and he grabs Jason’s hand as he stands, helping Jason back on his feet. Jason takes a moment to send a vicious glare to the crowd surrounding them, causing them to scatter. They’re more scared of his size and his resting bitch face than anything since he hasn’t ever given anyone besides bullies a real reason to be scared of him. Some days it bothers Jason. Other days, like today, it comes in handy.

Tim’s one of the few who never once blinked at Jason’s size or his bad boy fashion style. That’s one of the reasons Jason likes hanging around him. Although maybe Tim only isn’t scared because he’s been hiding the fact that he’s secretly a ninja this entire time.

“So what’s up?” Tim says after they have some space.

“I just wanted my lunch money for later.” It’s part of their deal, Jason does Tim’s homework and Tim buys Jason lunch and the occasional breakfast depending on how much homework Jason has to do. Jason needs money and Tim needs to not fail out of high school for his laziness. It also gives them an excuse to talk to each other, which is nice.

“Oh right! Thanks for doing writing my history paper for Miss Prince by the way, she gave me an A.” Tim fishes in his pockets and hands Jason a wad of cash that is too thick for the amount they agreed upon. Jason has learned by now not to complain, but he still can’t stop the rush of shamed gratitude that flushes his face as he pockets the money.  

Now would be the time for them both to head in opposite directions. Neither of them move.

Tim says, “So do you wanna-”

Jason says, “Maybe we could-”

They both laugh.

“You go first,” Tim says, cheeks pink.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to do something together after school today.” Jason winces when his voice cracks on the last syllable but he continues on bravely. “We could get some pizza and go to the park. Or whatever you want.”

“I can’t tonight because I have a raid scheduled with my guild in WoW,” he grins before Jason’s heart can break. “I do have a couple tickets for the Outlaws show on Friday though. Close to the stage and everything.”

“But you hate their music. You said they scream too much.”

Tim shrugs. “Maybe I just need to experience it in person. So, do you wanna come with me?”

“Okay. Yeah. Sure.”

“Okay, cool.”

“Cool, cool, cool.” Jason doesn’t know what his mouth is doing, but he wishes it would stop.

The warning bell saves him from further humiliation and both boys take off in opposite directions to their respective classes. Jason can’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.


	28. Things you said in a hotel room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Jay gets mistaken for a prostitute ;) 
> 
> This is slightly nsfw bc there is a lot of talk about blowjobs, although I did skip past the actual sex.
> 
> *Chapters 28-30 added 10-19

The first thought that crosses Jason’s mind when the fancy red car pulls up to the curb in front of the streetlamp he’s taking a smoke break under is that he’s about to get kidnapped. When he isn’t immediately held at gunpoint his curiosity piques and he takes a hesitant step toward the car, despite his common sense screaming at him to get the fuck out of there.

The window rolls down as Jason steps to the edge of curb. He leans down quickly, not wanting to be surprised by whatever or whoever is in the car, rests on his elbows to peer into the vehicle and comes to face to face with the man voted Gotham’s Most Eligible Bachelor in last months issue of Gotham’s Elite.

“Hello,” Timothy Drake-Wayne greets him from the driver’s seat. He’s facing Jason, but his eyes are flickering everywhere but Jason’s face.  He doesn’t look anything like the man with the cocky smirk on the front page of the magazine. No, this Tim has bags under his eyes, messy hair, and slightly chapped lips. He’s still devastatingly beautiful, just in an entirely different way. A better way, Jason decides as he watches Tim not watching him. He is surprised by how tiny he is though.

“Hey,” Jason says, realizing he never greeted Tim back.

“How much?”

Jason cocks his head, noticing Tim’s cheeks lighting up. “How much for what?”

Tim drums his thumb against the steering and gives Jason a sheepish little smile that he doesn’t understand until Tim says, “Let’s start with a blowjob.”

“Oh,” Jason says. “ _Oh._ ”

“Yeah,” Tim says, like he gets it.

Except he really, really doesn’t.

Because he’s under the impression that Jason is a  _prostitute_  and, while Jason’s done a lot of things for money, he’s never done that. He opens to mouth to tell Tim exactly that, but then he remembers why he needed a cigarette tonight. He had been stressed about being able to afford food after paying his rent.

So he gives it some thought, then says, “One-fifty.” He knows it’s an absurd amount for a blowjob, but it’ll give him enough for groceries and gas until he gets paid again. Of course, rich, sports car driving Timothy Drake-Wayne agrees to it.

“Sounds good,” he says. “Hop in.”

An hour and a half later, Jason stands in front of the bathroom mirror in a fancy hotel room on the other side of town from his lamp post, considering himself as he swishes mouthwash around in his mouth. He’s a little surprised he doesn’t feel any different after sucking a dick for money. It honestly just felt like he was giving a regular blowjob and then happened to receive a wad of cash afterword.

Now that Jason thinks about it, he realizes Tim had been more polite than Jason’s other partners, had said please and thank you more than once, had even offered to help Jason get off when he noticed the blowjob had gotten Jason aroused and seemed happy to do so. And, on top of all that, Jason has a huge wad of cash in his pocket because Tim is a very generous tipper. It’s probably the most entertaining way he’s earned three hundred bucks, he decides as he spits into the sink.

He expects things to get awkward as soon as he goes back into the main room with Tim and is prepared for a quick goodbye once he gets his shoes on.

Tim starts speaking as soon as he catches sight of Jason, polite like he isn’t sitting there in his boxers and nothing else, like Jason wasn’t deep-throating his cock just a little bit ago.

“I ordered dinner if you’d like some,” Tim says. “Ribs and steak, I’ll eat whatever one you don’t like. Oh crap, you’re not a vegetarian are you? I mean there are sides I guess but I could-”

“Ribs sound amazing right now,” Jason says. “If you don’t mind me staying.”

“I’ve got the room for the night so you can stay as long as you want. I don’t really know what’s standard here,” Tim shrugs. “This is my first time doing this.”

Jason chews on his bottom lip for a moment, then says, “Yeah, me too.”

Tim stares. “Your first time…what?” His voice is cool and a little dangerous. Jason fights back a shutter at the sound of it.

“Uh, performing sexual acts for money?” Jason rubs a hand through his hair.

A look of understanding and horror crosses Tim’s face. He gets it, really gets it, this time.

“Oh my god,” he says. “Why would you-”

“I was broke and I happen to like sucking cock,” Jason shrugs. “I’d do it again.”

Tim doesn’t look amused. “Really?”

“Yeah, sure.” For some reason, Jason’s having to try very hard not to laugh so he tries changing the subject. “What made you decide you wanted to pop the prostitution cherry?”

“Did I really pop that cherry if I wasn’t actually the prostitute?”

Jason rolls his eyes, marchers over to the bed, grabs Tim’s face in his hands, and plants a kiss on his lips. It’s short and chaste and when Jason pulls away he makes an obnoxious smacking sound. He smirks, then flicks the twenty he pulled from his pocket right into Tim’s dazed face.

“There. I just paid to kiss you. You’re a prostitute now.”

“My father would be so proud,” Tim says dryly. He places the twenty in a neutral spot on the mattress between them. Jason takes it back without hesitation and shoots Tim a pointed look, reminding him there was a point to all that.

“Oh right,” Tim says, then blushes. He hasn’t blushed since he first picked Jason up. “I just needed a distraction I guess. A reason not to work or think about work. Everyone I knew was too busy to hang out and I didn’t want to use an escort service since my name is pretty well known. Also it would have felt kinda depressing to just pay someone to hang out with me.”

Jason takes a moment to process that. He has a habit of speaking without thinking and sticking his foot in his mouth. He doesn’t want to do that with Tim.

“Have I been helping?” He lays back on the mattress, turning on his side to face Tim.

Tim remains seated, but takes cue from Jason and relaxes back against the headboard. “Yeah. More than you know.”

“Okay,” Jason says. “I’ll stay. We can eat, watch TV, talk, fuck until you’re too tired to even try to think about work. Then, we’ll sleep.”

And if the sight of Tim’s grateful smile makes Jason feel like Tim’s the one doing him a favor, no one has to know.


	29. Things you said with no space between us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another slightly nsfw one due to talk of boners. 
> 
> *Chapters 28-30 added 10-19

“So,” Tim whispers, his breath caressing Jason’s cheek. “This is awkward.”

“I assumed the closet would be bigger,” Jason grunts. He tries to lean back get some space between them and ends up with the doorknob jammed painfully in his lower back. He leans back into Tim, blushing at the little squeak that comes out of Tim’s mouth when Jason’s thigh presses up between his legs. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Tim says in a high voice.

Jason tilts his head to press his ear against the closet door, closing his eyes to focus. He can hear the footsteps of Bane’s men from further down the hall. It sounds like they’re getting closer. Jason grits his teeth instead of cursing like he wants to. This mission would have been so much easier if they’d have just let him use his guns. But no, Brucie had wanted them to go undercover, despite the risks Jason knew they’d have to take. Jason can’t wait to get out of this and say, ‘I told you so,’

He opens his eyes and glances over at Tim. He’s chewing his lip and staring at Jason’s neck with a glazed expression. Jason swallows and he swears he sees Tim’s pupils dilate. He shifts trying to get comfortable and that’s when he feels it.

“Tim,” Jason says slowly. He presses his thigh up against Tim, who is noticeably not moving an inch. “Are you wearing a jockstrap right now?”

“Nope. No, I am not.”

“Didn’t think so,” he leers.

“Sorry.” Tim winces. His face changes rapidly from pale to pink to deep red so Jason takes pity on him and moves his thigh away from Tim’s groin, as much as he can in such a small space anyway.

“Don’t be sorry,” Jason says, not able to let it go just yet. “I was just surprised is all. I mean, your body is so tiny I wasn’t expecting you to be so well-endowed.”

“Yeah, well…” Tim preens. He slowly starts to relax against the wall again.

Jason still can’t help but to tease, “What got you so worked up anyway?”

Tim gives him a flat look. “Seriously? You want me to stroke your ego right now?”

“Well I did just compliment your gigantic- Wait. I was the reason?!” he says loudly.

Tim slaps a hand over his mouth and they both freeze as they listen to the footsteps from outside hurry closer to them.

“There’s nothing here?” The man sounds like he’s right outside the closet door. “I could have sworn I heard something.”

“I told you this place was haunted, Carl!” This time it’s a woman. “But you didn’t believe me did you? ‘There’s no such thing as ghosts, Karen. You’ve just been watching too many scary movies again, Karen.’ Well, ha!”

“Let’s just talk about this somewhere else,” Carl says, sounding nervous. “This place is giving me the creeps.”

“Finally, we can agree on something.”

Jason and Tim both let out twin sighs of relief as Carl and Karen’s footsteps hurry away from them.

“That was close,” Tim says as he takes his hand away from Jason’s mouth. “I think it’s safe to leave now.” He frowns when Jason makes no move to open the door. “Jason…”

Jason cocks his head. “You never answered my question.”

“Oh, come on.” Tim’s frown turns into a scowl. “You’re hot and you’re funny and you’ve got this bad boy with a good heart thing going on. Not to mention your thigh is bigger than my entire waist. I’m a young, bisexual man. Was I supposed to just not react to you pressing up against me?”

Jason blinks, his mind shutting itself down and rebooting as it tries to take in Tim’s words. Then he says the only thing that comes to mind. “We should go out sometime.”

“What.”

“Yeah,” Jason looks everywhere but Tim. “I mean, you did just hump my leg like a dog-”

“I did not!”

“-so I think you at least owe me dinner.”

Tim eyes him suspiciously. “You want to go out with me?”

“Yes?”

“Like on a date?”

“Sure, yeah.”

“…Does this have anything to do with your newfound knowledge about the size of my dick?”

“I mean, a little bit,” Jason shrugs. “But I also think you’re funny and cute and nerdy, but like in a cool, intelligent and confident and sexy way.”

“Oh wow,” Tim says. “If I’d have known you finding out about being the reason behind a lot of my boners would get me a date, I would have told you years ago.”

Jason gapes. “Years?!”


	30. Damsel Jay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone wanted to see Jay being the rescued damsel :)
> 
> *Chapters 28-30 added 10-19

Tim thinks he’s probably the least qualified person for this, but he knows he’s  _only_  available person for this, so he has to swallow that bitterness that wells up inside him whenever he sees Jason.

That,  _‘You were my hero and you almost destroyed me’_

That,  _‘Bruce loves you; how dare you?’_

He swallows it and gets to work stitching the skin on Jason’s forehead back together.

Jason isn’t the man who tried to kill him tonight, with his dazed expression and multicolored bruises lining every inch of visible skin, it’s easy for Tim to think of him as just another stranger he’s saved on the streets.

He’d been with Joker for three days before they’d realized he was missing and four hours after that before Tim had been able to sneak into the warehouse Joker was keeping him.

Tim would never break the no killing rule, but that doesn’t stop the satisfying image that appears in his mind of Joker’s body littered with a twin of every injury he’s inflected on Jason over the years.

Jason doesn’t flinch as the needle goes in. He doesn’t blink as the thread slides through. He hasn’t spoken once.

Tim thinks he must be in shock.

“Can you tell me your name?”

Jason’s eyes lock onto his and there’s a spark in them, a little fire like sass. “What?”

“Tell me your name,” Tim says again. He’s halfway through the cut. It likely won’t scar, which is good. Jason doesn’t need anymore reminders of what he’s been through.

“Jason Peter Todd. I was born on August sixteenth and I’m twenty-three years old. Anymore questions?”

“Nope,” Tim says. “Just checking to make sure you were still with me. You haven’t talked.”

“Maybe I just didn’t feel like talking to you.”

“Haven’t lost your attitude problem, I see.”

Jason laughs dryly. “It’s all I’ve got.”

Tim makes a noncommittal noise and slides the thread through a little faster on the next loop. He refuses to feel anything like pity for Jason.

He finishes up the stitches, aware Jason’s eyes never leave his face after the start of their conversation. It’s probably a lack of trust thing. Neither of them speak again until Tim is spreading ointment on a burn on Jason’s forearm.

“So how’d you find me?”

“Joker left a video for B to find. Guess he got bored of not seeing him while he’s with the Justice League and wanted to lure him back to Gotham. Dick found it and sent me since he had to deal with Ivy.” The burn gets a large piece of gauze taped over it. “How’d you end up getting captured by him?”

Jason scoffs. “One of the drug lords I run sold me out. Set up an ambush during our monthly meeting. I’ll have to deal with him later.”

Tim nearly bites his own tongue off to stop his question of how exactly Jason is going to deal with the guy who betrayed him. He knows he won’t like the answer. Instead he forces a grin and asks, “Got anymore boo-boos you need Dr. Tim to look at?”

Jason gives him a flat look but starts cautiously moving his limbs, stretching and testing movement. He only winces once when he tries to roll his left ankle and Tim wordlessly removes his boots to brace it.

“Thank you,” Jason mutters.

“No problem,” Tim says. “You might have to get it checked out though. It looks pretty swollen.”

“No, not just for the brace. I meant for everything,” Jason clears his throat. “I know I haven’t exactly been the nicest person to you.”

It’s not an apology but it feels close enough for something in Tim to relax.

“Remember that next time you feel like trying to kill me,” Tim says. He’s unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice so he laughs a little awkwardly to let Jason know he’s only kidding.

“I’ll do my best,” Jason grins. There’s an edge to it like it’s a struggle and Tim decides that’s okay because they’re both trying and that’s a start.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to drop by here on my Tumblr [glaciya.](http://glaciya.tumblr.com/) if you're interested.  
> Requests are closed for the time being until I catch up on some things. Thanks for being patient with me while I get back to it :)


End file.
